Earth-717: Fantastic Four Volume 1
by Over9000Pylons
Summary: An alternate time. An alternate world. While in space investigating a storm of cosmic rays, Reed Richards and his team of explorers are accidentally exposed. Barely escaping with their lives, the four soon discover that they have been imbued with incredible powers. Together as a family, they decide to become the world's newest superhero team: the Fantastic Four.
1. Second Family

Earth-717: Fantastic Four Vol 1

Chapter 1: Second Family

The pendulum on the grandfather clock, which was situated in the far right of the room, ticked back and forth. The constant repetition bounced a small sound around the room with each swing of the golden sphere on the end of the pendulum. It also created a sense of consistent balance in the energy of the room, at least in the mind of its occupant.

The room was an office, and a relatively small one at that. The main desk was completely littered with papers, open notebooks, empty coffee cups and used napkins. Virtually none of the wood surface was visible due to the amount of clutter. The waste bin standing against the side of the desk was overflowing with ripped papers and chunks of half-eaten sandwiches.

A single bookshelf was on the left side of the room, opposite the clock. All four rows of the shelf were stuffed with books, on disciplines ranging from microbiology to endocrinology; from mechanical engineering to advanced physics. Many of the books were themselves also stuffed, with sticky notes of various colours with scribbles and markings on them.

Behind the desk was a chair, and in that chair sat a man. He was leaning against the back of it, with his feet crossed and suspended in the air. Holding one of his many notebooks in his left hand and a pen in the right, he scribbled in another line of numbers and algebraic symbols before rubbing his chin. Shaking his head, he wrote in a new line beneath it before scratching out the previous line. Sighing, he then started to write again before leaning too far back. Reed's eyes widened as the chair tipped over backwards, and he fell on his head.

Knocking his feet against the table, dozens of his papers scattered around the room. Sitting down as he straightened his face, Reed watched as the door opened, and a large, muscular man walked into the room.

"Is this some newfangled way of organizing, or did you just fall on your ass?" asked Ben.

"Funny," said Reed, extending a hand.

Ben laughed and walked up to Reed, grabbing his hand. Pulling Reed to his feet, he then slapped him on the back with a chuckle.

"Ah, come on, egghead. Learn to laugh at yourself," said Ben. "Ya gotta admit, seeing the supposedly smartest cat on campus lose a fight to good old gravity is a knee slapper if I've ever seen one."

Reed rubbed the back of his head.

"Hardly," replied Reed. "I was in the middle of some heavy calculations. If I don't calibrate all of my devices according to my set of formulae just right . . . ."

"The whole thing will go kaput-ski," interrupted Ben. "I get it. You always saying the same mumbo-jumbo all the time, but have you ever had one of your little merry machines blow up in your face?"

"No . . . ."

"Then stop your worrying and start your hurrying! We're late for dinner with the Storms!"

Reed's eyes widened.

"What?! What time is it?"

Reed looked at the clock and gasped.

"Jeez louise, Reed, it's like your brain's already gone and left to Mars," said Ben. "I got the car outside ready to roll. Get yourself looking spiffy and we'll get outta here. Oh, and check your clock once in a while from now on, alright?"

"Right."

Reed rushed out of the office and ran down the hall towards the bathroom. Ben shook his head and smiled before inhaling and leaning against the wall. Folding his arms, he smirked and looked down at Reed's desk. Scanning his eyes around at the papers strewn on both the desk and about the room, he then stopped to see a picture frame which was face down on the floor. Raising an eyebrow, he stepped forward and bent down to pick it up.

Holding the frame up, Ben looked at the picture. It was a family portrait. A younger version of Reed was in the centre, sitting on the lap of a smiling woman in an elegant chair. She had short, styled hair and a flower dress. A man in a dress shirt, a bow tie and slacks stood next to the chair, wrapping his arm around the back of it. He was an older man with slightly grey hair and a moustache, but he was also smiling and gently leaning towards the woman and Reed.

Exhaling, Ben looked over at a corner of the desk which was now clear because of the shuffling of papers. Frowning, he placed the frame on the corner and turned it towards the chair. Leaning back against the wall, Ben waited a couple of minutes until Reed walked back into the room with a coat on.

"Alright Ben, sorry for the wait," said Reed. "I'm ready now."

"Yeah," said Ben. "Be right with ya."

Ben pushed himself off the wall and walked up to Reed. The two then began walking down the hallway towards the staircase.

"So remind me again what your big brain was crunching on when you so spectacularly fell outta your chair?" asked Ben.

"My calculations were for theoretical space travel in a craft much smaller than any rocket," explained Reed. "Conventional rockets need to be so large because of the massive amounts of fuel required to break out of Earth's gravity. However, I'm working on a potential energy source which should hypothetically make a more compact craft viable for commercial and utilitarian space flight. I want to make it so that space travel will be an option for every . . . ."

"Alright, alright mega-brain, I'm sorry I asked," interrupted Ben. "Yeesh. You try to have a little common courtesy by showing interest in a guy's work, and ya think he'd have some back by not talking your ear off."

Ben pushed the door open and let Reed walk out of the building and on to the sidewalk before walking through the door himself.

"Tell you what, egghead; you ever get that flying doohickey of yours finished, then I swear on my good old Aunt Petunia's honour that I'll pilot the thing myself. I know you sure as hell won't be able to do it."

Reed smiled and let out a chuckle.

"Very well, Ben. I'll hold you to that."

Reed stuck out his hand. Ben looked down at it before sticking out his own and shaking it.

"You're on, Einstein."

* * *

Susan pressed her hands against the glass of the window as the rain poured down it. Staring out at the barely lit neighbourhood street, she continued to breathe slowly and sigh every minute or so. Gently streaking her hands down the glass, she noticed small, smudged, residual finger marks left behind from where her hands used to be.

The continuous pattering of the rain on the glass added a sense of rhythm, and Susan's focus on it led to her tuning out what was outside of her field of vision. She waited for more light to appear on the road ahead of her, but for several minutes nothing changed at all. Suddenly, a jarring noise snapped her out of her trance.

"Sue!"

Susan looked over to the right at her younger brother.

"What is it, Johnny?"

Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you staring out the window?" asked Johnny.

Susan rolled her eyes and looked back to the window.

"Oh," said Johnny. "I get it. You're waiting to see him."

"Go away, Johnny," said Susan.

Johnny grinned mischievously.

"Sue's in love with Reed!" exclaimed Johnny, before putting on a fake, high-pitched voice and clasping his hands together. "Oh, Reed, won't you please take me out of here and marry me and kiss me all day? Please?"

Susan looked back at Johnny, glaring and clenching her fists.

"You be quiet before I pulverize you, Johnny!"

Johnny stuck out his tongue. Susan yelled in anger before charging at him. Johnny began laughing and running away as Susan chased him down the hallway and into the kitchen.

"Mom!" shouted Johnny. "Sue is trying to hurt me!"

"No!" yelled Susan. "I'm trying to kill you!"

They ran past their mother, Mary, who was standing in front of the stove. She looked down at the kids with an unimpressed face as they grazed her legs.

"Susan," said Mary, "if you're going to kill your brother, can you do it after dinner?"

"Oh, Reed," started Johnny again, "I want to kiss your beautiful face all day long! Mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah!"

"I hate you!" screamed Susan.

As they looped back into the living room, Susan tackled Johnny and wrestled him onto the couch. Holding each other's hands, they pushed against each other and growled.

"Guys," said Mary, "try to keep the roughhousing to a minimum, okay?"

Susan clenched her teeth at Johnny as the doorbell rang.

"Coming!" shouted Mary.

Her eyes widening, Susan instantly let go of Johnny and jumped off of him. She quickly straightened her hair as Johnny chuckled.

"Gotta make sure you look good for your husband?"

Susan glared at Johnny again before shaking her fist at him.

"I'll break your stupid face if you make fun of me again," replied Susan.

"Ooooh, I'm so scared."

Mary walked through the hallway and past the living room before arriving at the door. Pulling it open, she saw both Reed and Ben standing on the other side.

"Boys!" said Mary. "Come in, come in! What took you so long?"

Ben shrugged.

"Eh, got stuck in traffic, and by stuck in traffic I mean the traffic of Reed's brain. I'm afraid old Doc Richards is to blame yet again."

Reed shook his head as the two of them walked in.

"I'm so glad to know that you have my back, Ben," said Reed.

Reed turned to Mary.

"Thank you again for having us, Mrs. Storm."

Mary waved her hand down.

"Oh posh, don't give me that. Please, call me Mary. I don't like going by my married name anymore, since well . . . . you know. Besides, you're practically family to us."

Reed was silent for a moment before smiling.

"Thank you."

Ben scratched the back of his head.

"Now, where are those unscrupulous ruffians?"

Johnny ran into the hallway and threw up his arms.

"Ben!"

Johnny ran forward and leaped at Ben, who caught him and held him up high. Johnny giggled in delight.

"Well, look who it is," said Ben. "Mary's spawn of the devil himself. You staying in trouble as much as possible?"

"Yes sir," replied Johnny with a smile.

"Hey, that's my boy! Now let me clobber you, ya rascal."

The two laughed as Ben held Johnny under his arm and began scratching the top of his head with his knuckles. Reed looked past them to see Susan walk into the hallway. Putting her finger through the hair over her ear, she looked forward at him and held her hands together right in front of her.

"Hello, Susan."

Reed stepped forward and knelt down in front of Susan. She inhaled and paused for a moment before responding.

"Hello, Reed."

"How have you been?"

"Good . . . . er, I mean, well, I've been well," replied Susan.

"You been taking care of your mom for me?"

Susan tilted her head to the side slightly before nodding.

"Yeah."

"Good," said Reed, smiling.

He then stood up and walked past her. After a second, she exhaled and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. She then watched as Ben put Johnny on his shoulder and walked down the hallway past her. Sighing as she looked down at her hands, she then turned around and followed them into the kitchen.

Mary was placing the last plate on the kitchen table.

"Alright everyone, take a seat."

Some time later, after most of the food on the table had been consumed, Mary began speaking to Reed.

"So Reed," said Mary, "what were you working on that caused you to be late this time?"

Reed softly laughed.

"Ah, it was my compact space craft, actually."

Mary raised an eyebrow.

"It's the project I'm most passionate about," explained Reed. "I'm trying to find a way to create a smaller, more economical, and eventually, much more accessible means of space travel that will, hopefully, be a means of transportation that everyone can use in the future."

"Wow, well you certainly do aim big," replied Mary.

"That's very interesting," said Susan.

Johnny scoffed at her. She then kicked him in his shin under the table and smiled forward.

"Ow . . . ." said Johnny.

"Heck, Reed ain't even spendin' all his time on it, if you can believe it," started Ben. "He somehow manages to fit in tutoring, and he even chums it up with Victor so they can have symposiums with all of the jargon, but none of the alcohol!"

"What is Victor doing these days?" asked Mary.

"He's focused on trans-dimensional portal technology," answered Reed. "He says he's on the cusp of a breakthrough; that's why he's having a demonstration tomorrow at the university. The work he's doing is really quite fascinating."

Mary nodded in approval.

"Well, I certainly hope it goes well."

Reed weakly smiled.

"So do I."


	2. Demonstration

Earth-717: Fantastic Four Vol 1

Chapter 2: Demonstration

Victor wrote in another diagram on his board with his black felt tip marker as he continued to speak.

". . . . and so, as noted here, while all life so far found on Earth has carbon-based biochemistry, other elemental bases have been theorized due to alien life potentially evolving under different ecological circumstances."

Scribbling in an 'Si' and a 'B' close to each other on the board, he then circled the two and looked back towards the class. The lecture hall contained around two hundred students, most of whom were either writing notes, watching Victor, or on their laptops. Plugging the marker into the cap, Victor placed it on the table in front of him before stepping forward and speaking again.

"Two of the elements most frequently theorized as potential substitutes for carbon-based biochemistry are silicon and boron," explained Victor. "Organosilicon compounds, such as tetraethylsilane, tend to be fairly similar to other organic compounds in their attributes, but the diversity of the potential chemical bonds with other atoms is lacking in comparison to carbon. Boron, on the other hand, has the opportunity to make more bonds than possibly even carbon, but its low cosmic abundance makes it rather challenging to believe that it could create large ecosystems."

A male student near the front of the class, who was wearing large glasses and a beanie, put up his hand. Victor nodded to him.

"Yes, Kristoff?" asked Victor.

"Professor," started Kristoff, "what about sulphur? Could that hypothetically be used as a biochemistry base due to its long-chain molecules?"

"You are correct," answered Victor, "but sulphur has its own set of limitations. Like phosphorus, hyper reactivity could break down the bonds required for stability, and sulphur typically refrains from create branched bonds."

Kristoff nodded. Victor looked up at the class.

"Alright, because everyone has been astute and the class average on the last assignment was higher than expected, I am going to let you out early today."

The class let out a collective cheer. Several of the students began packing their bags.

"Be sure to read chapter nine for next week's class," continued Victor, "and I need the first stage of your lab reports in the science office's drop box by five pm on Wednesday. Otherwise, have a great weekend."

Victor opened the briefcase on his desk and began placing his books, files and markers inside of it as the students slowly exited the lecture hall. Sighing as he organized the items in his briefcase before closing it, he then heard a voice from behind him.

"Breaking class early? Why, keep this kind of carefree attitude up and they'll revoke your doctorate."

Victor turned and smiled as he looked at the woman standing behind him. She was slightly shorter than him, wearing a purple blouse and skirt. She had black hair bunched around her head, and eyes that were vibrant but at the same time grey. Her thick, black lipstick made her facial features stand out, and her golden, hoop earrings framed her face. Putting her fists on her hips and sticking her left hip out to the side, the woman grinned widely. Victor looked down at her left hand, which had a small ring on the fourth finger.

"What's wrong, Professor?" asked the woman, in a chiding tone. "Too stunned to come up with a retort? I mean, I wouldn't blame you . . . ."

Victor smirked.

"Well at least I have a doctorate . . . ."

The woman narrowed her eyes.

"Not everyone can be like you and do that when we're seventeen, genius."

"I will take that as a haphazard compliment."

The woman furrowed her brow for a few seconds before relenting and smiling. She then skipped over to Victor and grabbed him, pulling him in for a kiss.

"You know, Valeria," said Victor after they parted lips, "you should stop trying to convince me that you have any sort of edge. It does not work well."

"I know," replied Valeria. "I'm too adorable for my own good. Maybe I should just give up being a geology student and move back to the old country . . . . become a farm girl with no sense of agency at all. Why do something with my life when I can be a walking cliche?"

Victor chuckled as he grasped her hand in his, before grabbing his briefcase with his other hand. They then walked out of the lecture hall and into the hallway.

"Speaking of geology," started Victor, "did Professor Elder tell you when your expedition begins yet?"

Valeria rolled her eyes and sighed.

"He finally got the schedule in order," answered Valeria. "Old buzzard can't organize things to save his life."

"It does not interfere with the wedding, does it?"

"Oh, psssh, no. We're leaving in the middle of August; the fourteenth, I think, not too sure. Might need to check for the exact date, but it's not until way after. I was more worried that we wouldn't even get the schedule itself until after the wedding, the way the Professor operates."

Victor raised an eyebrow.

"Is that resentment I hear?"

Valeria sighed.

"Not really," replied Valeria. "He's really just eccentric, you know? But it can be difficult when, I mean, you get so excited by the prospect of what you're doing and then the guy in charge . . . ."

"Is not?"

Valeria let go of Victor's hand and stood in front of him. She stuck out her arms in front of her and began gesturing in circles.

"He's passionate, yeah, but he's so . . . . not incompetent, just slow. He forgets to do stuff, always seems absent minded. I just worry, since I figure that this is a major expedition . . . . I mean, a potential set of caverns under Manhattan? Never explored? This is a big deal, and the fact that ESU got selected, and, and as students we might make groundbreaking . . . . literally, heh, discoveries, I just . . . ."

Victor put up his hand and Valeria stopped talking, letting down her own hands.

"You just do not want anything to ruin the chance of a lifetime."

Valeria exhaled, throwing her arms around in a big circle.

"Yes."

Victor reached out with his free hand and rubbed Valeria's cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned her head into his hand.

"Look, my love," started Victor, "everything is going to be just fine. Like you said, ESU was selected, and that was for a reason."

Valeria opened her eyes and looked into Victor's. He then pulled her in close to him.

"It's because of students like you."

Valeria placed her hands on Victor's chest, gently nodding with a faint hint of a smile.

"Trust me, given what's happening tonight, I know what you are going through."

"But you're the smartest man alive, beloved," replied Valeria. "And you have Reed, who is always willing to help you out. You never make a mistake."

"Not everyone can be like me, remember?"

Valeria rolled her eyes as Victor pulled her in for another kiss.

* * *

Ben swallowed the potato chips in his mouth before stuffing in another handful. Reed shook his head before looking forward as they continued to walk. After eating another gulp of chips Ben looked over at Reed.

"Want some?" asked Ben, holding the bag out to Reed.

Reed waved his hand.

"Well don't judge me then, wise guy."

"I'm not judging, Ben," said Reed. "I'm just concerned for your well being."

"Don't give me that nonsense, egghead," said Ben, continuing to eat. "I know what I'm doing. I was in the Air Force; they don't just let you get fat while you're down there. I'm a big guy; big guys gotta eat. Who cares if I have some salty or sugary grub along the way?"

As they walked up towards the auditorium entrance, Ben stuffed the now empty chip bag in a trash bin next to the door. Walking inside, Reed and Ben joined a large group of people who were entering the main auditorium chamber. Filing in, Ben carved a path down the aisle to a set of seats near the middle of the auditorium. Ben sat down and grumbled.

"Egh," said Ben. "I hate auditorium seats. They're built for ferrets."

Reed sat down next to Ben. Around three hundred people were in attendance. The main stage was wooden and barren, aside from a podium on the left hand side. Red curtains lined both sides of the stage. After everyone was seated and the chatter had mostly subsided, a short, older man with a bald head, small glasses and a fine suit walked up to the podium. He tapped the microphone with his finger twice.

"Hello, hello, can you hear me?" asked the man. "Oh, good, good."

The man put his hands on the podium and smiled.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Marcus Corliss, Dean of Empire State University," began Corliss. "I am extremely proud and honoured to welcome you all here today, for a demonstration to be conducted by one our professors. An import from the country of Latveria, he completed his doctoral work here at the university three years ago and now teaches in multiple scientific disciplines. He is here tonight to present his own groundbreaking research experiment. So, allow me to introduce . . . . Doctor Victor Von Doom!"  
The crowd gently applauded as Victor walked out onto the stage. Corliss shook his hand before returning to his seat. Placing his hands behind his back, Victor walked to the centre of the stage.

"I would like to thank you all for coming tonight," stated Victor. "I know that you likely all have busy schedules, unless you're in the social sciences, in which case, I applaud you for not going to the tavern tonight."

Many of the people in the audience laughed. Victor smirked.

"I'm sorry, that was a terrible joke," admitted Victor. "But truly, thank you all, not just for taking the time to be here, but also for being witnesses to what I believe to be my life's work."

Reed placed his hand on his chin. Ben scratched his nose. Victor gestured, and Valeria walked onto the stage, pushing a cart. On the top of the cart was a small, silver device with a cylinder fused to the top. The end of the cylinder had a circular, glass lens.

"My fiance," said Victor, "Valeria Zefiro. She also hails from Latveria. She is already keeping my life afloat, as you can see."

A handful of people laughed and clapped as Valeria took a small bow, holding the edges of her dress. She then walked up to Victor and kissed him on the cheek.

"Good luck, beloved," whispered Valeria into Victor's ear.

She then nodded and smiled before walking over and standing at the right side of the stage.

"And now, on to the main event," said Victor.

Victor walked up to the device and stood next to it.

"Have you ever truly considered the enormity of existence?" asked Victor. "Not only is our universe undeniably vast . . . . something not even a being moving at the speed of light could ever hope to cross, but what of all the universes as well? An infinite number of possible dimensions are hypothetically possible, but how could you ever prove it without a way of reaching out? Here we all are, eternally stranded to one viewpoint. So limited, so constrained. What would it be like to see the universe from Saturn? To see the universe from Alpha Centauri? To see the universe from a quasar? To see a supernova from mere metres away? How could we ever know? How could we even begin to fathom the wonders of our universe . . . . and of all the universes not yet discovered?"

Victor paused.

"Well now, we take the first step to that discovery."

Looking down at the device, Victor tapped a button on the front. The device began to hum with a distinct vibration sound. A set of lights on the device glowed bright orange. The people in the crowd looked forward in interest.

"My device is the first of a new age of technology," said Victor. "It is a trans-dimensional portal generator, capable of creating a temporary junction between dimensions . . . . allowing for travel not only to any place within our universe, but also to worlds we never even knew existed. Using a tachyon particle reactor, it can generate and sustain a stable dimensional warp field, joining two points in the fabric of space together."

One of the professors in the crowd put up her hand. Victor looked at her.

"Yes?"

"Doctor," started the professor, "if what you're saying is true, how can you guarantee that one of these portals is safe to use? Could it not hypothetically expose us all to a dangerous and uncharted hostile climate, or something of that nature?"

Victor nodded.

"You are right, of course," answered Victor. "Generating a portal to an unknown environment could be extremely dangerous, and of course I do not wish to risk anyone's life. That is why I have built in a safety feature that will be activated for this demonstration. As such, my device is capable of generating a sealed portal; a gateway with an invisible matter barrier. Essentially, we will be able to see into this other dimension, but nothing from either side will actually be able to pass through."

Reed narrowed his eyes and exhaled as he watched Victor. He then looked over at Valeria, who smiled at him and gave a small wave.

"Now, we begin," said Victor.

Victor opened a small tray on the device which contained a keyboard and display screen. Typing a command string into it, he tapped the enter key and watched as the lens lit up. After a few seconds, it fired a small beam forward a few metres before stopping and generating a portal, which faced the audience. The portal had a metre radius, and hovered slightly above the ground. The edge of the portal was a frayed, crimson energy field which was constantly moving, circling the portal.

What was inside the portal was what had everyone looking forward in awe. A large, reddish stone planetary surface was seen, with the depths of space in the background. Balls of fire flew through the air, in and out of the viewpoint provided by the portal.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said Victor, "we are now looking into another dimension."

The crowd broke into a standing ovation. Valeria clapped, with a smile on her face and a tear in her eye. Victor closed his eyes and bowed, his hands behind his back. As he was doing so, the portal violently shook, causing the device to vibrate. A small arc of electricity appeared over the device. Reed's eyes widened. Victor looked down at it with a concerned face.

"It's overloading," said Victor, under his breath.

Victor quickly pressed a button on the keyboard, causing a string of mathematical equations to appear on the display screen.

"The calculations . . . . an error . . . ."

Victor looked directly at Reed. As he did, another electricity arc appeared, lashing out and striking Victor in the face. The crowd gasped as Victor screamed in pain. Reed stood up. Valeria's eyes widened.

"Victor!"

Valeria ran over to Victor, who had fallen to his knees.

"Victor!"

Reed saw the portal begin to fluctuate in size as the device continued to arc electricity. He then turned around and began waving his arms.

"Everyone get out!" shouted Reed. "Now!"

The crowd began getting off their seats and running out the doors. Ben stood up and grabbed Reed's arm.

"We gotta go!" yelled Ben.

Reed looked over at Victor, who was trying to pull himself off the ground.

"Victor!" shouted Reed.

Valeria shook Victor's shoulders.

"Victor, Victor, we must leave!"

"Ugh . . . ."

Valeria looked behind her and saw that the device began glowing brighter. Her eyes widened as Victor began to stand up. She then abruptly pushed him off the stage. He landed on the ground and looked up at her.

"Valeria!"

Valeria let a tear fall out of her eye as the device exploded, enveloping the stage. Valeria was caught in the blast, and screamed at the top of her lungs. For a brief instant, her skeleton was visible inside a black shadow of her body, and then everything was gone as the red energy field imploded, leaving nothing left of the stage but ashes.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" shouted Victor.

Reed looked down at the ground as all time seemed to slow.


	3. Ten Years Later

Earth-717: Fantastic Four Vol 1

Chapter 3: Ten Years Later

The water caressed the pores on Reed's face. Dipping his hands into the sink again, he quickly pulled them up, splashing more liquid onto his eyes. Sighing, he then looked into the mirror at himself, scanning his eyes across the thin layer of white lining the sides of his hair. He felt the drops of moisture soothe his skin. After staring at himself in the mirror for a minute, he heard the noise of the door behind him.

"Reed?"

Reed turned around to see Ben standing there, one hand on the edge of the door. Ben was wearing the same white and black bodysuit that he was, with a small insignia on the chest composed of three hexagons. Reed exhaled with relief.

"Ben."

"Hey guy," started Ben. "You coming outside, or do I have to deliver the whole spiel myself?"

"What time is it?" asked Reed.

Ben rolled his eyes.

"Four minutes until the conference starts," replied Ben. "I've just accepted my lot in life as your personal watch."

Reed placed a hand on his forehead and leaned his back against the wall. Tilting his head to the side for a moment, Ben then walked over to Reed and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Buddy? Egghead? You in there?"

Reed looked up at Ben, with glazed eyes.

"What?"

Ben put both of his hands on Reed's shoulders and shook him.

"Hey! Reed! Focus. Eyes on me. Your big brain isn't overloading, is it?"

Reed blinked a couple of times and sighed again.

"No . . . . it's, ah . . . . it's happening, Ben. Today's the day."

"You just figure that out right now? Sheesh, we are doomed, aren't we?"

Reed broke into a smile as Ben let go of his shoulders.

"Today's the day," repeated Reed.

"Yeah, so how about instead of saying that over and over, we stick to schedule and start the press conference?"

Reed placed a hand on Ben's shoulder.

"Thank you, Ben," said Reed. "Really. For staying with me, all this time . . . . for being all the things that I should never have asked from a friend."

Ben smiled.

"Hey, don't mention it, and don't get all mushy on me now, wise guy," replied Ben. "Or I might have to clobber you."

Reed chuckled. Ben then suddenly pulled him in for a hug.

"Eh, alright, fine," said Ben. "You get one hug out of me."

Ben pushed himself off of Reed and let go.

"So, we good to get this done or what?"

"Yeah," answered Reed. "Herbie?"

A crashing noise was heard as several boxes in the corner of the room were knocked over. Emerging from behind them was a small, floating robot. It had a white shell, and was composed of a circular body, two small arms, and an attached, rectangular headpiece with two large, yellow orbs for eyes. Shaking its head for a moment, the robot then looked at Reed.

"Hello, Doctor Richards!" said the robot. "And you too, Benjamin. Are we finally ready to proceed?"

"Yes, Herbie," answered Reed.

Ben raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, short stuff," started Ben, "tell me . . . . what were you doing behind them boxes?"

"Wandering about, if you must know," answered Herbie. "Whenever I do not have a specific task assigned to me, I tend to explore my surroundings, cataloguing what I observe."

"Great," said Ben. "So you're just as much of a scatterbrain as Reed."

Ben nudged Reed on the shoulder.

"Like the son you never had, heh heh."

Reed rolled his eyes.

"Funny," stated Reed.

Reed then turned to Herbie and knelt down in front of it.

"Herbie, I need all of the simulation data uploaded to the main computer system."

Herbie bobbed up and down.

"Finally! A task! Hooray!"

Herbie floated out of the room. As it did, it passed a woman who was walking into it. She was a slender woman in a lab coat and high heels. Her long hair was tinted pale blue, and she had it done in an elongated ponytail, along with slight, wavy curves framing the sides of her face. Her thick lips were coated with glossy, purple lipstick. She stepped into the room and looked directly as Reed.

"Doctor Richards?"

Ben turned around, and then moved out of the way so that Reed could see the woman. Ben looked at the woman's name tag, which was pinned to her lab coat. It read 'Dr. Viola Crausband'.

"Doctor Crausband," said Reed.

Viola met Ben's gaze for a brief second before looking back at Reed.

"We're waiting on you," said Viola.

"I'm just about ready," responded Reed.

Viola nodded and then turned around and walked out. Ben rubbed the back of his head.

"Where'd you find a gal with such a loopy fashion sense? I mean, who has blue hair?"

"She's been phenomenal help," said Reed. "Her knowledge of aerospace engineering and alternative energy sources has been invaluable. The fact that she used to work at Project Pegasus, one of the most prestigious energy research divisions on the . . . ."

"Uh, Reed?"

"Yeah?"

"We don't have time for the unabridged lecture, pal," said Ben. "Get moving."

"Right . . . . of course."

Reed walked out of the room. Ben turned to look at the mirror over the sink. Staring at his own reflection for a few seconds, he then turned towards the door and followed Reed down the hall.

* * *

Stepping out onto the platform, Reed waved and smiled at the crowd of journalists sitting in a large collection of chairs. The platform was outside, next to the stationed spacecraft. The ship was latched onto a metallic scaffolding, and was pointed upwards. A podium stood in the centre of the platform.

Viola was already standing on the platform, off to the left side of the podium. She was holding her hands together in front of her. Reed looked past her to see Johnny and Susan standing on the far side. Susan smiled, while Johnny winked and snapped his finger towards him. They were both in white and black bodysuits, just like Reed.

As Reed walked up to the podium, Ben emerged from the building and walked onto the platform. He stood next to Viola and put his hands behind his back. Reed pulled the microphone towards him and looked out at the crowd.

"Members of the press," started Reed, "I would like to thank you all for coming today to mark this momentous occasion."

The chattering of the crowd silenced.

"I am Doctor Reed Richards, and today, we take the first step towards a new age for all of humanity. Just like everyone can drive a car, or board a train, my design for a compact spacecraft will be the first in a new breed of transportation technology; a ship capable not only of interstellar travel, but also capable of being manned and piloted by virtually anyone."

Ben shifted his eyes to look over at Viola. He watched her for a few seconds, noting to himself how still she was.

"I founded my personal scientific organization, the Future Foundation, on the principle of building the technology that would propel us forward as a species," continued Reed. "My spacecraft is a testament to that principle. To prove that spaceflight will soon be a possibility for anyone, I have decided to compose half of my flight crew with individuals with no scientific or aeronautical training. Our mission? To investigate an incoming storm of cosmic radiation that is passing by our planet."

One of the reporters put up her hand. She had short, brown hair and an orange dress. Reed pointed at her.

"Yes?"

"Betty Brant," said the woman. "Daily Bugle. Can you clarify what exactly this cosmic radiation is, exactly?"

"The storm appears to be unique in both its composition and its movement," answered Reed. "It is similar to other forms of radiation, but we don't have all of the details, thus, our investigation."

"Do you have any fears about the cosmic rays being harmful to humans?" asked Betty.

"Like any form of radiation, precautions need to be taken. That is why I have designed special shielding for our spacecraft. It will allow us to conduct our mission without being exposed to any potential dangerous effects of the radiation."

Betty sat back in her chair and nodded, seemingly in satisfaction. As Reed continued to answer more questions from other members of the press, Johnny nudged Susan gently on the hip.

"Hey."

Susan looked at him.

"What?"

"You look good," said Johnny.

Susan's eyes were wide for a moment before she formed a small smile.

"Thanks."

Susan looked forward again as Johnny folded his arms and smirked. After a few more seconds passed, Johnny spoke again.

"Maybe now he'll finally notice you."

Susan scowled as Johnny chuckled under his breath. After the last question was answered, Reed nodded and addressed the whole group.

"Thank you all again for coming," said Reed. "Please head up to the observation wing so that you may watch the launch, which will be starting in forty-five minutes. Your press passes will allow you access. Now, if you'll excuse me, we have a flight to prepare."

Reed turned around and stepped off the podium as the crowd clapped and began leaving the area. Susan, Johnny and Ben walked up to him. Viola stayed where she was.

"Hey, nice moves, smart guy," said Johnny. "You really dazzled the crowd with your wordiness."

Susan covertly kicked Johnny in the ankle. As he winced in pain, she spoke.

"That was wonderful, Reed," stated Susan.

"Thanks, guys," said Reed. "I'm glad I get to do this with people who . . . . who I consider to be family."

Viola watched the four in front of her, and ever so slightly narrowed her eyes.

"I'm going to the command level," said Viola.

Reed and the others turned to look at her.

"I will ensure the communications array is functioning at peak capacity so that we can maintain contact with the ISS in case of trouble. I'll also perform a final round of backup mechanical checks, and interface with Herbie's data."

"Oh, good," replied Reed. "Thanks again, Doctor."

Viola nodded. Reed turned back to the others.

"Let's go."

The four began walking off the platform and towards the scaffolding attached to the ship. Viola then turned and headed back inside the main building. Walking past several personnel in the hallways of the facility, she did not bother to look at any of them. Finally reaching the door labelled 'Mechanical Storage', she swiped her badge over the security panel and the door opened.

Stepping inside, Viola closed the door behind her. Moving towards a large, cylindrical, metallic tube attached to the wall, she flicked open the command panel and pressed a numerical password into the keypad. A hissing noise was heard as the metallic tube opened, revealing four, vertically positioned glass tubes, each one filled with a glowing, green fluid.

Reaching into her shirt, Viola pulled out a small vial from between her breasts. Holding it with the tips of her thumb and index finger, she focused her gaze on it for a few seconds. It contained a smattering of glowing, blue powder. Looking down at the tubes, she then unscrewed the top of the one on the far left. Holding the vial over the open tube, she placed the top of the tube on the counter as she popped open the vial.

Viola poured the powder into the tube and watched as it dissipated into the liquid. Within a few seconds, the green fluid looked exactly the same as before. She then screwed the top back on, closed the metallic tube, and calmly walked out of the room.


	4. Infinity and Beyond

Earth-717: Fantastic Four Vol 1

Chapter 4: Infinity and Beyond

Johnny smirked as he watched Ben start pulling his astronaut outfit over his bodysuit. Tugging the bottom section up to his waist, Ben looked down in dismay as he saw that it was tight near his hips. Johnny chuckled to himself, and Ben scowled at him.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Had a few too many bags of chips there, Ben?" asked Johnny.

Ben growled.

"You keep giving me guff kid, and I swear, one of these days . . . ."

Ben made a fist and threw it in an uppercut gesture.

"To the moon, Alice!"

Johnny folded his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"That is, if you could ever catch up," replied Johnny. "Maybe you could ask Reed to invent you a rocket-powered wheelchair."

Ben furrowed his brow and stepped closer to Johnny.

"I never needed help keeping up with your sorry ass back when you were a snot-nosed, whiny pipsqueak, and I won't need it now, you insufferable little . . . ."

"Hey!"

Ben and Johnny looked to the entrance of the room as Susan stood in the doorway, with one hand on her hip.

"Can you two go the fifteen rounds after we're done here?" asked Susan.

Ben threw his hand down.

"Ah, we're just kiddin' around, Suzie-Q."

Johnny scoffed.

"Heh heh . . . . coward."

Ben's eyes flared up as he jerked his head back towards Johnny.

"Why you little . . . .!"

"Johnny!" shouted Susan, as she walked forward and pointed at her brother. "You. Out. Now."

"But Sue . . . ."

Susan narrowed her eyes. Johnny sighed.

"Fine," said Johnny. "I was getting bored of this lug anyway."

Johnny strolled out of the room as Susan rolled her eyes. Once Johnny was gone, she walked up to Ben grabbed at the bottom section of the suit.

"Here, let me."

Ben sighed and stood up straight as Susan pulled the suit buckle up to his waist. After she clicked the buckle into place, she smiled and gently slapped Ben on the shoulder.

"There we are," said Susan. "Just suck it in a bit and you'll be fine."

Ben and Susan shared a short laugh together.

"Thanks, Suzie," said Ben. "You know, when I promised Reed that I'd fly his sci-fi ship if he ever got it done, I never really thought I'd have to live up to it. Guess I forgot to never underestimate an egghead."

Susan tilted her head slightly to the side.

"Oh?"

"I mean, I wouldn't say I've let myself go or nothin', but I was kind of surprised when I got the call."

"We all were," replied Susan. "One day I'm stocking groceries and taking night classes, and the next I'm being told that we're heading out to space? It's a bit much."

Ben smiled.

"But you wouldn't have missed it for anything, would you?" asked Ben.

Susan rubbed her arm with her other hand.

"No, I wouldn't."

"I knew it."

Susan raised an eyebrow.

"Knew what?"

"That you kids were meant to be on this flight," replied Ben. "You know that it wasn't Reed who proposed having you and Johnny on the mission, right?"

Susan's eyes widened.

"It was mine."

"But . . . . why?"

"Reed wanted to contact a couple of his old science pals," explained Ben. "You know, fellow brain trust types. I looked at him, and I said, 'Reed, only a colossal idiot like you could bring your own dream to life and completely miss the point'."

Susan blinked as she listened to Ben.

"He was always talking about this super new space ship, and every time he gave the spiel about it to whoever could tolerate it, he would say how he wanted to make space travel something that, one day, everyone could do. So I said, 'how can you say that and then go ahead and make it so that the people who test the god-darned thing are all intellectual elites?' Beyond that, imagine if I had to listen to three nerds chatting it up for the whole time? I might just take an express trip out the airlock."

Ben smiled.

"So I told the wise guy to listen to his best bud for a change, and he came to his senses. He realized that it was always supposed to be you two. That's the thing about that cat; he's so damn smart that he's blind to the most obvious things."

Susan chuckled.

"That's our Reed."

"Including you, Suzie."

Susan's eyes widened.

"What do you . . . ."

"Come on, Suzie," interrupted Ben. "You don't have to beat around it with me."

"You know?"

"Doll, everyone knows it . . . . except him, of course. He always was oblivious to people's feelings."

Susan put her hands together in front of her as she frowned. Ben reached out and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Look, Suzie . . . . I know what you want, but you ain't gonna get it unless you're straight up with him," explained Ben. "He's like a textbook. Literal, wordy, and dense as a brick."

Susan let out a small chuckle before she looked at Ben with sad eyes.

"You have to tell him how you feel, otherwise he isn't going to wise up," said Ben. "You know he just pushed past thirty and he still has only had one real girlfriend?"

"He has?" asked Susan.

"Yup," answered Ben. "Gal named Alyssa Moy. University girl, and just as souped up brain wise as Reed. The only reason they even dated was because I sort of slammed their heads together until they realized it was a good idea. But . . . . I mean, sure, they understood each other's big words, but it always seemed like they were interested in each other more as test subjects than as people, you know?"

Susan shifted her mouth to the side.

"Then I saw what the problem was," said Ben. "Reed doesn't need another super computer like himself. He needs someone to help him catch the small stuff, to help coax the human part out of him once in a while. It's not like he doesn't care, he does . . . . he just needs a little help."

"Yeah."

Ben placed his hand under Susan's chin and gently lifted her face up so that she was looking into his eyes.

"Hey . . . . promise me. Promise me that when we get back that you're going to tell him."

"But what if he . . . ."

"Suzie, I've known that guy for over twelve years," interrupted Ben. "He feels the same way . . . . it's just buried under all his work and complexes. If he gives you any trouble, just tell me and I'll clobber some sense into him. Alright?"

Susan looked at Ben with a smile and watery eyes.

"Come here, kid," said Ben.

Susan and Ben embraced. After hugging for several seconds, she pushed herself off him and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Thanks, Ben."

As she was saying this, the door opened and Reed stepped into the doorway. His full astronaut suit was on, and he was holding his helmet with his right hand.

"Hey guys . . . ."

Susan's eyes widened and she quickly spun around.  
"Reed!"

"Why aren't you in your suits?!" exclaimed Reed. "We're going to be behind schedule!"

Ben rubbed the back of his neck.

"Uh, well, you see, uh . . . ."

Susan stepped forward.

"It was my fault," said Susan.

Reed looked at her.

"I got carried away speaking to Ben about something. We'll get ready as fast as we can."

"Alright," replied Reed. "Johnny and I will be waiting in the next room."

Reed walked down the hallway. Susan and Ben shared a private smile as they finished getting into their astronaut suits.

* * *

All of the technicians in the control room were at their computers, talking and typing. Viola walked into the room, scanning the area with her eyes. After a few seconds, she walked to her desk at the back of the control room and sat down in her chair. The monitor flickered on, and she quickly typed in her password.

Out the window which made up the entirety of the wall that everyone in the room was facing stood the scaffolding that led to the ship. The scaffolding was clear, and the bright midday sunlight kept everything in perfect visibility. Typing in a command string into her terminal, Viola tapped a button next to her keyboard.

"All stations," she said, her voice echoing through the speakers in the room, "performance check."

A couple of seconds later, she heard various technicians sound off.

"Station Two, check green."

"Station Seven, check green."

"Station One, check green."

"Station Eight, check green."

"Station Four, check green."

"Station Three, check green."

"Station Six, check green."

"Station Five, check green."

Viola typed in another command string, and then opened a video communication window. Reed's face appeared on the screen.

"Doctor Richards, all stations have been cleared for operation," stated Viola. "Herbie's simulation data has finished compiling, and the plasma shield batteries have been prepped and installed on the ship per your request. We are go to proceed."

"Thank you, doctor," replied Reed. "We're starting the walk now."

Viola looked up over her terminal screen and watched as the four figures began walking across the scaffolding, followed by the floating, bobbling figure of Herbie. Narrowing her eyes and mildly sneering, her pupils followed the group as they made their way all the way towards the ship. After they entered the ship, she began typing into her station. Herbie's voice was then heard over the loud speakers.

"All crew strapped in and ready for takeoff," said Herbie. "We are go for launch. It's so exciting!"

"Launch initiated," replied Viola.

"T-minus ten," said Herbie. "Nine."

The people at the control terminals looked forward.

"Eight."

Herbie bounced around the ship, between the chairs of the four occupants.

"Seven."

Viola clenched her right fist.

"Six."

Johnny shook his head quickly.

"Five."

Ben placed his hands on the control column.

"Four."

Susan breathed in deeply.

"Three."

Herbie did a barrel roll.

"Two."

Reed exhaled.

"One."

The ship's triple engines ignited, and it began to launch into the air. Ben pushed forward on the control column, and the ship blasted upwards in a straight line.  
"All boards green," said Herbie. "We have a successful launch! Hooray!"

The technicians in the control room let out a collective cheer. Several of them pumped their fists in the air and clapped. Everyone in the room was happy and cheering, except for Viola, who was in the back of the room in her chair. She was silent and unmoving, aside from her right hand, which repeatedly clicked her nails against the plastic armrest on her chair.


	5. Cosmic Rays

Earth-717: Fantastic Four Vol 1

Chapter 5: Cosmic Rays

As the ship flew up into space, Johnny looked out the side window. His eyes as wide as possible, he watched as the last remnants of Earth's surface gave way to the dark backdrop of space. He didn't even notice his own breathing slow down as he became transfixed by the sheer amount of stars. Staring for several seconds, his mind snapped back into the moment upon hearing Reed's voice.

"We have successfully broken through the outer mesosphere," said Reed, as he flicked a switch on the control panel above him. "Heading into thermosphere range now."

Johnny tilted his head, looking through the front window. Susan leaned her head towards his, and the two of them looked at each other for a brief moment. Smirking at the same time, they both then continued to stare through the front window.

Ben tilted the control column slightly forward.

"Engines are tuned smooth," stated Ben. "Drives like a beaut. Hell of a ride you built here, Reed."

Reed nodded and smirked to himself.

"Herbie?" said Ben.

Herbie floated under Johnny and Susan's heads and bobbed up to the space between Ben and Reed's chairs.

"Yes, Benjamin?"

"Can you open up a line to the ISS? I reckon they're gonna wanna give us a holler."

"Right away," replied Herbie.

Herbie's head then shook back and forth momentarily as its body flipped over in the zero gravity.

"Oh, look!" exclaimed Herbie. "I'm upside down! What fun!"

Susan turned her head to the right side of the ship, where she saw a small, grey object slowly growing in size as they got closer.

"That's it, isn't it?" asked Susan.

"Yes," answered Reed. "The International Space Station."

Susan felt a small smile slowly form on her face.

"It's a marvel, really," said Reed. "Despite all the bickering and violence we see on Earth, it stands as one of humanity's greatest collaborations. As an achievement, it wouldn't have been possible without cooperation. I just wish more people on the surface could see it this close, so they could realize what we can do as a species when we're working together instead of fighting."

Continuing to stare at the station, Susan gently exhaled and felt her smile grow wider as she listened to Reed's speech. As the ship closed in, more and more details became apparent. The elongated, rectangular panels that framed the station's sides shined with reflected light, and the singular, large white metallic arm, with a Canadian flag on it, moved slowly along the station's front end.

As Herbie did a somersault in the air, it spoke again.

"Communication link to ISS open."

On the front control panel, the blank video screen turned on, showing the face of of a dark skinned woman with brown eyes and a bob cut. Johnny's eyes lit up as he put on a half smile.

"This is Reed Richards, with the Future Foundation," started Reed. "To whom am I . . . ."

"Doc Richards!" interrupted the woman. "We heard you were passing by up here. If I had more long term notice, I would have put out my best utensils."

Ben and Susan chuckled as the woman smiled. Reed rolled his eyes.

"Name's Salia, Doc. Salia Petrie. Aeronautical engineer with NASA. "

Ben's eyes widened.

"Sal?"

"Nice to see ya'll . . . . why, I'll be!" shouted Salia. "Benjamin J. Grimm!"

"You know her?" asked Susan.

"'Course I know her!" exclaimed Ben. "Sal was in the Air Force back in the day."

"Well look at you, old timer," said Salia.

Ben frowned.

"Hey! I ain't that old, missy."

"It wasn't meant as an insult, old sport. It was a term of endearment. You look fine and refined, know what I mean?"

Salia jokingly winked at Ben, who blushed. Johnny narrowed his eyes. Herbie floated up into Johnny's line of sight and looked at Salia.

"Hello, Miss Petrie," said Herbie.

Salia's eyes widened.

"Awh, that thing's adorable."

Herbie chuckled with glee before Johnny, glaring, tapped the front end of it so that Herbie was sent careening back into the rear of the ship.

"Jonathan!" exclaimed Herbie. "Why have you betrayed me?!"

Susan looked at Johnny with an unimpressed face, and he shrugged in response.

"You worked with Ben in the Air Force?" asked Reed.

"Sure did," replied Salia. "Old Ben was part of my flight team. He and my best bud Carol ran plenty of missions, 'back in the day', as he says."

"How is old Cheeseburger?" asked Ben.

Salia closed her eyes and laughed.

"She's good," answered Salia. "She stayed with the Air Force on their Special Projects division. Runs her own base down in Arizona. She should be pushing Major by now."

Ben smiled and nodded.

"Good," said Ben. "She deserves it. I'll have to go see her after I'm done flying this tin can around."

"You should! She'd be happy to see you. So, Doc Richards, I was told to expect you by a doctor . . . . Crausband, is it?"

Reed nodded.

"Yes, that's correct," answered Reed.

"Heck of a ship you got there," said Salia. "I've never seen a spaceworthy vessel so tiny."

"Well, that's sort of the point," replied Reed. "We built it as a way to . . . ."

"Can the discovery channel special, nerd," interrupted Johnny. "You'll bore the pretty lady to tears."

Reed scowled. Salia grinned and looked at Johnny.

"Who's this?" asked Salia. "You bring a Calvin Klein model with you as moral support?"

Susan and Ben broke out into laughter as Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"Wait . . . . what?" asked Johnny.

"Well, he's certainly just as bright as one," said Salia.

Susan put her hand over her mouth as she fought back her laughter.

"Oh . . . . sorry Johnny . . . ."

Johnny continued to look perplexed.

"I don't get what's so funny," stated Johnny.

"Don't worry about it, genius," said Ben. "She thinks you're pretty."

"She does?!" asked Johnny. "Cool."

Salia laughed and put her face in her hand. After she was finished laughing, she looked back at Reed.

"You just go ahead and finish off your science project, Doctor Richards," said Salia. "Holler back if you need anything."

"Understood, Miss Petrie."

The video screen turned off. Ben sat back in his chair and smiled as he adjusted the control column. Reed looked down at his own control screen and resumed typing. Susan looked at Ben.

"She seems nice," said Susan.

"Yeah, she's a good kid," replied Ben. "Bit of an oddball, but hey, least she has a personality, right?"

"Quite the looker, too," said Johnny.

"Alright everyone, listen up," said Reed. "Now I know it was nice to speak to Salia, but we have a scientific mission to undertake."

Susan dropped her smile and returned to a straight face. Johnny sat back in his chair and folded his arms before rolling his eyes.

"The storm of cosmic rays should arrive at these coordinates within the next twenty minutes," explained Reed. "We're going to be right in the middle of it, so we can take in the most accurate data. The shielding I designed will protect us, so there's no harm in being right in the middle of the storm."

"Now, when you say storm, I think of, like, crazy winds and stuff like that," said Johnny. "That isn't going, to, like, send us flying off towards Venus or nothing, right?"

"What did I just say?!" exclaimed Reed. "We have working shielding; we're protected from the storm."

"Reed," interjected Susan, as she placed a hand on Reed's shoulder. "Don't get upset. We're not trained for this stuff, remember? That was . . . . the point?"

Reed sighed and took in a deep breath.

"Yes, you're right, of course," said Reed. "Excuse me, Johnny. I didn't mean to snap at you."

Johnny looked at Reed with a concerned face. Ben looked over at Susan's hand and slightly smiled.

"It's that . . . . I put so much work into it, and when the gears . . . . in my brain, I mean, when they're turning, I, uh, sometimes . . . . get worked up."

Ben closed his eyes for a moment and nodded. Susan smiled and let go of Reed's shoulder.

"We know, egghead," said Ben.

"Yeah man," said Johnny. "Without you, I'd still be down at the car shop. Instead, I'm in freaking space! Don't sweat it."

"Thanks, guys," said Reed.

Johnny smirked as he laid back in his chair.

"Nerd," whispered Johnny.

Herbie floated past Johnny's head, glaring at him for a moment. Ben tapped a button on the control console.

"Alright, we're at the coordinates," declared Ben. "Placing her idle."

"Doctor Richards!"

"Yes, Herbie?"

"I was looking over the simulation data, and relaying it against the ship's sensors," said Herbie. "I have to say that something seems . . . . off."

Reed raised an eyebrow and turned his head to look at Herbie.

"What do you mean, off?"

"The cosmic storm cloud is moving at a faster than expected rate. By my new calculations, it's going to arrive at these coordinates in two minutes, not twenty."

Ben squinted his eyes, and saw a small, moving, coloured mass ahead of him.

"Hey Reed," said Ben, pointing his finger forward. "I don't think the tic tac is lying. Orange space party coming our way at twelve o'clock."

Reed looked at the incoming storm of cosmic rays. The cloud was made of a variety of warm colours, including shades of red, pink, orange and yellow. It appeared to rapidly grow in size as it approached. Reed quickly began typing on his command console.

"What do we do?!" asked Johnny, with fear in his voice.

"Calm down," said Susan. "We're going to be fine. Shielding, remember?"

"Oh. Yeah."

"Your sister's right," said Reed, as he continued to type. "All this means is that the storm's speed falls on the upper side of the range on my estimated data. Still within acceptable parameters. Herbie, status of shields?"

Herbie bobbed its head side to side.

"All shield plasma batteries in effect," answered Herbie. "Shields at optimal strength."

"I hope so," said Ben. "That stuff doesn't look friendly. Without them shields, I'm pretty sure it'd turn us into cosmic chop suey."

"What should we do, Reed?" asked Susan.

"I wanted to give the two of you terminals so you could analyze data for me, but there isn't time for that now," answered Reed. "I'm going to open your panel, and I'm going to get you to keep track of a specific set of numbers for me.

"Okay."

Reed pressed a button on his console, and a small screen and appeared out of the back of his chair, right in front of Susan. As it turned on, she looked at the several coloured graphs.

"What am I looking for?" asked Susan.

"A set of numbers at the top left," answered Reed.

Johnny raised an eyebrow and gave Ben's chair a little kick. Ben grunted in response.

"Huh, no screen for me?" asked Johnny, chuckling.

"You do that again, and I'll toss you to Jupiter," said Ben.

"I see them," said Susan.

"Are they all above ninety?"

"Yes."

"Alright, tell me if any of them drop," said Reed. "They shouldn't, but just keep an eye on them for me."

"Okay," said Susan, who felt a small sweat drop fall down her temple.

The storm cloud got closer, nearly enveloping a quarter of the front window. Ben moaned under his breath.

"Reed . . . ."

"All sensors calibrated," declared Reed. "Data will be coming in when the storm hits us."

Herbie did a backwards somersault.

"Just imagine," started Herbie, "those rays would completely disintegrate an unprotected biological entity. Fascinating, isn't it?"

The storm nearly covered the entire front window.

"Storm contact in ten seconds," said Reed.

Susan's eyes widened as she looked at the numbers.

"Storm contact in five."

"Reed?! The number on the far left . . . . it dropped to eighty!"

"What?!"

The entire ship lurched as the storm collided with it. All four of the astronauts screamed as the rays poured into the ship. Herbie was knocked against the wall.

"Ow!" shouted Herbie. "Containment breach!"

The rays then struck each person, flooding them with radiation. Their eyes turned ghostly white as they shrieked in pain.

"Shields failing!" shouted Herbie.

Reed's face elongated, followed by the rest of his limbs. His flesh seemed to gestate and stretch, turning him into a writhing glob of biomass. Susan disappeared in a flash of light. Johnny burst into flames, as did his chair. Ben panted as his skin took on the hue of the cosmic rays.

The video screen flickered on, showing Salia's face.

"Doctor Richards!" shouted Salia. "Ben!? We got readings that your ship has been damaged! What happened?"

The screen then cracked and went black again. Herbie tried to float forward as the ship lurched again.

"Engines damaged," stated Herbie. "Ship no longer under control. Force from cosmic impact leading ship onto collision course with planet Earth."

The ship fell backwards, knocked back by the storm. As the storm began to pass by the planet, the ship plummeted towards it.

* * *

"Ugh . . . ."

A blurry mess of shapes and colours formed the visible spectrum. Blinking a few times, Reed was then able to see things in sharper focus. He could make out a night sky and the green leaves of a tree above him.

"Agh . . . ."

Moving his neck, Reed then looked down at himself. His eyes immediately widened as he saw that his body was stretched out across several metres, with all of his limbs collapsed about in different directions. Shattered pieces of his astronaut suit were strewn about the grass, alongside the burning debris of the ship. His body was covered in his white bodysuit, which stretched along with his body.

"Intriguing," said Reed, after a few seconds.

Focusing his mind, Reed realized that his control of his limbs felt exactly the same. Taking a second to think, his body then receded until he was standing at normal height and proportion. Looking down at his hands, he then threw them forward, and watched in awe as both of them stretched out ten metres. Pulling them back in, his eyes lit up and an open smile emerged on his face.

"Reed?"

Reed looked up at the sound of Susan's voice.

"Sue?" called Reed. "Where are you?"

Susan didn't respond for a moment.

"Are you kidding?" asked Susan.

Reed raised an eyebrow as he moved his head back and forth, looking for her.

"No. Can you see me?"

"Reed, I'm standing right in front of you."

Reed's eyes widened as he looked in front of him, seeing only the grass and the burning ship.

"I highly doubt that," said Reed, as he took a step forward. "Susan, this is no time to be joking around . . . ."

"Watch out!"

Reed felt the air leave his lungs as he fell backwards, stunned both by the impact and the fact that he couldn't see what he collided with. As he fell back against the ground, his body flattened, splattering him across the grass. He could then hear Susan shriek in terror before she materialized in front of him.

"Oh god, Reed!" shrieked Susan.

"Sue!"

Reed took a moment to reform himself as Susan screamed again.

"Susan, hold on a minute . . . ."

"Stay away!" shouted Susan.

Throwing her arms forward, a force field then appeared in front of her, encasing her in a bubble. Reed tried to step forward before realizing that he could not move through the field. Susan covered her eyes with her arms.

"Susan!" yelled Reed. "Look!"

Susan slowly let down her arms and looked up at the force field.

"Whoa!" shouted Susan.

The force field disappeared, and Susan looked forward with confusion on her face. She then looked at her own hand, and watched as she turned herself invisible for a few seconds and then returned to visibility. She then looked back up at Reed.

"What is going on?" asked Susan.

"I think that . . . ."

Reed didn't get to finish his sentence, because he was cut off by an explosion which ripped apart some of the debris on the ship. Both Reed and Susan looked at it with surprise as a human form, covered in fire, emerged from it. It floated upwards before blasting off into the sky.

"Woohoo!" shouted the form.

Susan's jaw dropped at the sound of the voice.

"Johnny?!"

"Hey Sue!" called Johnny. "Look what I can do! This is fantastic!"

Johnny flew in a circle several times before landing on the ground and reverting to human form. Susan ran over to him and began to grab at his face and shoulders. Reed looked at Johnny's bodysuit, which was perfectly intact, like the rest.

"You're not burned?" asked Susan, perplexed.

"I know," replied Johnny. "Crazy, right?"

"What's crazy?" called out a gravely voice.

Reed, Susan and Johnny all turned to where the voice came from, and their eyes widened as they saw the form walking towards them from behind the trees. It was a nine foot tall, orange golem with rocky skin. For a moment they were stunned, until Reed looked down and saw that the creature had pants resembling the white and black bodysuit.

"Ben?"

"Yeah, that's my name, brain trust," replied Ben. "Don't wear it out, ya hear?"

"Wait," said Susan. "That . . . . thing . . . . is Ben?"

Ben furrowed his brow.

"Thing?!" shouted Ben. "What are you . . . ."

Ben looked down at his hands and his eyes widened.

"Oh," said Ben.

Everyone was silent for a few seconds. Ben then closed his fists and slowly looked up at Reed.

"What . . . . what happened?" asked Ben, with a stern voice.

"As far as I can theorize . . . ."

Ben stepped forward.

"What happened, Reed?!"

"Ben!" shouted Susan.

"Ben, stop," said Reed, putting up a hand. "Let me speak. As far as I can theorize, the cosmic rays have altered our genetic code, imbuing each of us with some kind of ability. They also must have affected our suits, because they can interact with our powers. Otherwise, Johnny's suit would have burned up."

"Yeah, I thought that was a bit weird," said Johnny. "For half a second, I was wondering why I wasn't naked."

Johnny smirked to himself before Ben growled at him. Ben then turned back to Reed.

"So, we're all freaks?" asked Ben.

"No, Ben," said Susan, sternly. "None of us are."

"Don't give me that garbage," replied Ben. "I heard what you called me. I ain't Ben Grimm no more. I'm just . . . . a thing."

"Well, if you're the thing, then I'm not Susan Storm either," said Susan. "I'm . . . . the Invisible Woman."

"And I'm the Human Torch!" shouted Johnny. "Catchy, right?"

Johnny held out his arms and smiled. Susan chuckled to herself. Reed stroked his chin and looked at Ben.

"It's like Johnny said, Ben," said Reed. "This is fantastic. Actually, I like that . . . . how does Mister Fantastic sound?"

"Sounds like the sort of schlocky name you'd see in a comic book," said Ben.

"Look, we're all changed," started Reed. "We're not regular humans anymore. We're in a class all our own, and I say, we stick together. As a team. So, are you in?"

Reed held out his hand, with his palm facing down. He looked around at the others, with a smile on his face. Johnny quickly reached forward and slapped his hand down on top of Reed's.

"Hell yeah, I'm in!" exclaimed Johnny.

Susan smiled and gently placed her hand on top of Johnny's.

"You boys will need someone to keep you straight," said Susan. "Might as well be me."

Reed then looked at Ben.

"How about you, Ben?"

Ben sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Eh, I don't know," said Ben.

"Ben, look," started Reed, "I'm going to look into why the shields failed, and I'll start work right away to see if I can reverse your transformation, but I can't help you if you don't let me."

Ben looked at Reed and frowned. After several seconds, he reached out and put his hand on top of Susan's.

"Alright, alright, I'm in," said Ben. "A team, huh?"

"A team," said Susan. "The Fantastic Four."

"Hey!" said Johnny. "Good name."


	6. Undermining

Earth-717: Fantastic Four Vol 1

Chapter 6: Undermining

The large, master clock at the top of the wall ticked onward. It was half a metre in diameter, with a white face, and bold, black, Roman numerals. It showed the time to be eight twenty-six in the evening. Below the clock were dozens of smaller circular faces, but they were not clocks. Instead, they were measuring devices for various frequencies.

The room with the clock on the wall was mostly white, filled with various computer stations and laboratory personnel. At one of the desks near the middle of the room sat Kenji, a young Japanese man with unkempt black hair, a white collared shirt, dark jeans and large glasses. He also had a Pokemon pen tucked on his left ear.

Frowning and typing into his console, he then clicked on a chat window. Responding to a message he had received, he was in the middle of typing his response when he heard a voice from behind him.

"What you doin', Uedo?"

Kenji slightly jumped in his seat before quickly turning around. He saw a woman with blonde hair and green eyes standing behind him, chewing gum. She was wearing a lab coat, had her hair in a bun, and was carrying a clipboard. She tilted her head to the side as his lips quivered.

"Judy!" exclaimed Kenji. "I, uh . . . ."

"Are you on third party websites again?" asked Judy.

"Me? No . . . ."

Kenji looked at the screen for a moment, before moving in front of it and smiling. Judy placed her free hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow, with an unimpressed look on her face. Kenji felt a few drops of sweat fall down his forehead. After staring at him for a few seconds, Judy broke into a smile.

"Calm down, dork. I'm not going to tell on you."

Kenji was silent for a moment before letting out a big sigh and wiping his forehead with the back of his palm. He then smiled at Judy.

"Thanks."

Judy tapped her clipboard as she resumed chewing her gum.

"I wanted to ask if you could get the intern personnel reports for this week squared away."

"Yeah, sure."

Kenji grabbed a sticky note from the green pad on his desk. Pulling his pen from his ear, he scribbled a quick note on it.

"If you can have those on my desk by four tomorrow, that would be sweet," said Judy.

"Sure thing."

Kenji finished writing his note and pasted it on the side of his computer monitor before putting his pen back behind his ear. Judy took out her own pen and took down a note on her clipboard. Kenji looked at the ring on her left hand finger.

"Joseph working the same shift today?" asked Kenji.

Judy looked at Kenji and smiled.

"Yeah."

Judy blew a small bubble with her gum. After it popped, she looked past Kenji's head and saw a poster on his cubicle wall. It was a colourful, manga poster with several characters.

"That's new."

"Hmmm?"

Kenji turned and looked at the poster.

"Ah."

He turned back to Judy.

"Yeah, just got that one," explained Kenji. "It's from one of my favourite comic books."

"Huh. What's it about?"

"It's called Big Hero Six. They're a team of Japanese superheroes. They start off as people forced to work together by circumstance, but they eventually become something of a family. One of them is a kid genius, there's a robot, a guy who can turn into a dinosaur, a girl with a magic purse . . . . it's great."

Judy nodded her head.

"Neat. Sounds like the sort of thing my brother Arthur would be into."

"Yeah, in the last issue, they had to fight a giant mons . . . ."

Kenji was interrupted by the entire room shaking. Judy gasped as she struggled to maintain her footing. The other people in the room looked around, in a panicked state.

"An earthquake?!" exclaimed Kenji. "Here?"

Kenji and Judy turned their heads to the far side of the room as they heard the double door burst open. Franklin Hall rushed into the room as another tremor rocked the room.

"What's going on?!" shouted an employee.

"Did the extractor cause this?" asked another.

"Get me seismic readings, now!" shouted Hall.

The various employees started to look down at their stations. After another tremor, one of the employees called out.

"Last shock measured at level seven intensity!" she shouted.

"Christ," said Hall, rubbing his forehead. "Alright, sound the alarm!"

An alarm was heard over the loudspeaker. Hall turned to Judy.

"Ms. Parks."

"Doctor."

"Doctor Hall!" shouted Kenji. "Look!"

Kenji was pointing towards the room's left wall, which was composed of a massive glass sheet. The wall showed the exterior compound attached to the facility building. It had a massive circular platform, which held a single, orange, ten metre tall device on it. The device was cylindrical, with various pipes and lights lining it. Around a dozen men in hard hats and construction outfits could be seen standing around the platform, wobbling as they felt the effect of the quakes.

Hall narrowed his eyes as he saw a crack appear in the concrete ground to the left of the platform. The ground then seemed to punch upward, and Kenji's jaw dropped. As more pieces of concrete were displaced, a deafeningly loud roar was heard, which lasted for ten seconds. As everyone watched in awe, the concrete gave way.

The creature that emerged was gargantuan; eighty metres in height. Its skin was thick and leathery, with bone plate extrusions on its limbs and joints. It stood on four limbs, with each one ending in four claws. With the throat dimly glowing with green-blue energy, its head was composed of a V-shaped skull plate, with six, cyan eyes that lacked pupils. As it lowered its jaw, showcasing its human-like teeth, it roared again, shaking the walls of the building and causing several pieces of glass to shatter.

"Kaiju," whispered Kenji.

The employees started to scream and scatter. Hall turned around and began waving his arms.

"Evacuate, now! Now!"

Judy continued to stare through the glass.

"Joseph!"

Judy started to run forward, towards the door at the end of the glass wall. Hall turned around and grabbed her by both of her forearms.

"Let me go!" shouted Judy, struggling to break free. "That's my fiance out there!"

"There's nothing you can do!" yelled Hall.

Judy stopped struggling as she resumed watching the creature in awe. It looked down at the device, and then began walking towards it. Each step it took resulted in a loud shockwave reverberating through the ground.

"It's going for the geothermal extractor!" said Kenji.

The monster then lifted its right paw and slammed it down on the fleeing construction workers. Judy's eyes widened as she screamed.

"NO!"

Reaching out with its left hand, the monster wrapped its fingers around the geothermal extractor. Ripping it out of the ground, it paused and stared at the device in its hand. It then roared into the air one last time, the piercing shriek making it feel like the whole world was shaking. The monster then turned around and slowly retreated into the hole from which it emerged.

For a long while, everyone was still and silent. No one was looking at it, but the master clock had stopped ticking, becoming as still and silent as the people in the room.

* * *

Each resounding thud shook the cavern walls. Breathing heavily in and out, Harvey clutched his staff as he waited for his servant to come into view. The staff itself was a white stick, smattered with filth and dirt. At the top of the staff were four, glowing green discs, encircling the staff's body.

Harvey himself was short and plump, wearing a thick, green bodysuit and grey scarf. He had a set of blue goggles and beige boots. His skin was craggy, scarred and rough-textured, and a black tuft of hair was on his head. As he listened to the sounds of the monster approaching, he felt his mind drift backwards in time, to the university expedition ten years ago that led him to this state.

"Professor?"

Harvey's eyes lit up upon hearing the sound of the girl's voice.

"Yes?"

"Is something the matter?"

Harvey turned his head to the right, looking at the young girl sitting in the passenger seat of the tunnel boring tank. She had shoulder length blonde hair, dull, maroon lips, and eyes that glistened with aqua-coloured fervor. Entranced for a moment, Harvey then adjusted his glasses and put his hands back on the steering wheel.

"Nothing, nothing," replied Harvey. "Got, uh, lost, for a moment."

Harvey looked forward as the drill on the front end of the tunnel boring tank continued to rip apart the rock face in front of them. The girl looked down at the computer console in front of her, which was plugged into the dashboard of the truck. She began flicking through data screens.

Harvey's eyes darted back to her, specifically to her legs, which were mostly uncovered given that she was wearing jean shorts. He then briefly scanned his eyes across the console screen, which had the name 'Laurie Collins' at the top left of it.

"What does the sensor data say?" asked Harvey.

Laurie responded without taking her eyes off the screen.

"We have some hollow cavern ahead. One hundred metres. No way of knowing how large it is given the angle we're on, but this might be it."

Harvey pulled down a microphone that was attached to the ceiling of the truck's cabin and held it near his mouth.

"Attention convoy. This is Professor Elder. We're nearing a potential cavern spot. Decrease speed by forty percent and wait for further instructions."

Multiple voices were heard over the speakers.

"Roger."

"You got it."

"Slowing down now."

Harvey eased up on the gas pedal as he listened to the speaker. Upon hearing no more responses, he raised an eyebrow and grabbed the microphone again.

"Convoy Five, I didn't hear you sound off," said Harvey. "Sound off, over."

Static was heard.

"Convoy Five, I repeat, sound off, over."

". . . . av . . . . ol . . . . su . . . ."

"They're cutting in and out," said one of the other voices.

"Dammit," said Harvey.

Harvey looked out the left side window, back at the convoy vehicles behind him. All of them were moving in formation behind his truck. He then looked at Laurie.

"Something's wrong with Billy's truck. I think he's got a mechanical failure with his speaker."

"Not a good time," replied Laurie, shaking her head. "We're only about twenty metres from the drop."

Harvey scoffed before pulling the microphone to his mouth again.

"Alright, everyone, stop the convoy. I repeat, stop the convoy. I'm going to see if I can figure out what's wrong with Convoy Five before we proceed."

"Understood," said one of the voices.

Harvey opened the door on his side of the truck and hopped out. As he did, he looked back at the vehicles to see that the last one was still moving forward while the rest were stopped. Harvey's eyes widened and he began waving his arms.

"Billy!" shouted Harvey. "Stop!"

Harvey squinted his eyes at the last vehicle to see the head of a young man against the wheel, his eyes wide. A girl sitting next to him in the passenger was screaming and waving her arms. She then reached over his body and grabbed the microphone.

"Billy's had an aneurysm!" shouted the girl. "His foot's on the gas; we're not stopping!"

"What?!"

Billy's truck crashed into the back of the fourth vehicle of the convoy, which then knocked into the third. That vehicle was a pickup truck, loaded with gasoline canisters. The force of the impact caused a canister to break through the containment tub. It fell off the back and scraped the rock on the floor. Harvey's eyes widened again as he saw the canister tear open, along with sparks caused by the scrape.

"Laurie!"

"Professor?!"

Harvey ran back to the truck door and jumped inside as the canister exploded, engulfing most of the tunnel with a wave of fire. The screams of incinerated students were heard for brief seconds before being drowned out by the flames. The blast knocked the tunnel boring truck forward, blowing it through the remaining rock face.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

Laurie's mortified shriek filled Harvey's eardrums. As the ground of the cavern gave way, thousands of charred, rock chunks fell around them while the truck plummeted into the chasm. Harvey looked down to see the ground rushing to meet him.

Harvey blinked and shook his head as the memory skipped forward in time.

"Laurie?!"

Harvey stumbled about, taking wobbly steps while draped in singed clothes. Taking a moment to focus, he then lit up a flare that he had found when he woke up. Holding it in front of him and squinting his eyes, he saw that the cavern he was in was massive; he could see neither the end of it or the ceiling.

Turning back to the wreckage, he saw the destroyed remains of several vehicles and supplies. Walking towards the debris, he saw the burned corpse of one of his students hanging out the window of a truck.

"Anyone?!" shouted Harvey. "Can you hear me? Is anyone still alive?"

All he could hear was the echo of his own voice. Shaking his head and continuing to walk amongst the wreckage, he then saw his truck, which was upside down. He gasped upon seeing Laurie's body, which was curled up inside the cabin of the truck. He rushed forward and yanked the door open before pulling her out.

"C'mon, Laurie, stay with me."

Harvey checked for a pulse, which he did not find. Sighing in dismay, he started pumping her chest and attempted to get her breathing. After a few minutes, he exhaled and sat down on the ground. As the flare died, he kept his eyes on her motionless body. After waiting for several hours, he stood up and walked over to her, and began gently caressing her leg, reaching for her jean shorts.

"What's this?"

As the memory jumped forward again, Harvey found himself walking along the edge of the chasm. His eyes had long since adjusted, and his other senses had grown stronger in the time he had been forced to stay underground. While biting the last remaining bit of flesh off of a human femur bone, he had noticed a small, glowing orb on the ground. Tilting his head to the side, he walked forward and knelt down next to it.

As he did, the orb began to shake. His eyes widened as the orb then cracked open, and a small, slime-covered limb reached out, with four claws on the end. Harvey grinned with glee as he watched the small, leathery creature break itself out of the egg.

"Why hello there, little one."

The creature stood on four legs, and groaned. It looked up at him with its six, cyan eyes that lacked pupils.

Harvey's mind then snapped back to the present day as the creature walked into view. It was walking on its knuckles, and he could see that it was clutching a large, orange device in its left hand. He began chortling to himself as the creature lifted the device and placed it in front of him.

"Well done," said Harvey.

The creature let out an affectionate moan in response.


	7. Acclimation

Earth-717: Fantastic Four Vol 1

Chapter 7: Acclimation

"Really, this is all so unnecessary . . . ."

Susan sighed as multiple doctors ran around the room, performing any kind of miniscule physical test on her that they could think of. Sitting on the medical examination table with her legs hanging off of it, she held her arms stiff, clutching the edge of the cushion with both hands. After multiple samples, numerous X-Rays, and countless taps and prods from all kinds of medical equipment, she finally decided that she had had enough, and gently pushed the doctors away with a force field.

The doctors gasped in response.

"Listen," said Susan. "I'm fine. There's nothing happening to me to be alarmed about, aside from, you know . . . . this."

Viola, who had been standing in the back of the room for the past several minutes, stepped forward.

"Ms. Storm, there's no need to be abrasive."

Susan scowled.

"I'm not being abrasive. I just don't feel like playing 'new lab specimen' with your brainless . . . . er, heh, I mean . . . ."

Viola furrowed her brow.

"I understand completely what you mean."

Viola looked at the three doctors, who were silently standing off to the side of the room.

"You three, out." commanded Viola. "Give your new . . . . specimen, as she puts it, some time to rest."

Susan held her breath and gritted her teeth as the doctors filed out the room, followed by Viola, who glared at her before closing the door. Once the door was closed, she sighed again before looking around the white medical room. A television in one of the ceiling corners droned on as she looked around.

". . . . and in world politics, leaders of nations from around the globe are meeting in New York next week to discuss the so-called 'metahuman phenomenon' in a landmark session at the United Nations . . . ."

Susan squinted her eyes upon noticing a security camera. Darting her view towards the door and then back to the camera, she smiled mischievously.

"Watch this."

Immediately after speaking, Susan turned invisible. Taking a second to revel in her minor victory, she then stood up and opened the door just wide enough to slip through. Closing it behind her, she then walked down the hallway as various hospital personnel carried on their duties. After a couple minutes of searching, she found Reed and Johnny sitting at a waiting table.

"They let you two out?" asked Susan, turning visible. "Or did you have to force them off, too?"

Reed and Johnny looked at each other before turning their heads back to Susan.

"Forced," they said, in unison.

Susan exhaled.

"Figures. Where's Ben?"

Susan then quickly looked at a nearby door as she heard yelling.

"Alright, you needle-happy, ball-brained, air-headed mad scientists! That's it! I swear, if you don't pack up your little boxes of torture utensils and prison shanks and get out of my way in three god-darned seconds, I'll pulverize you so hard that you'll need to take new pictures for your medical licenses!"

Johnny gently raised an eyebrow.

"I think he's in there."

Another, meeker voice was heard from behind the door.

"But, Mr. Grimm, please, sir, we have to do more tests . . . ."

"More tests, more tests! You doctors are like pet parrots who just learned their first phrase and are so desperate for snacks that you'll repeat it until your jaw damn near drops off. Well, here's a new phrase for you: get out of the way, or you're all gettin' clobbered!"

The door then smashed open, with Ben bursting through it. The cracked and mangled remains of the door crumpled onto the ground as the doctor inside the room gasped. Wiping wood chips and dust off of his arms, Ben then looked at Reed, Susan and Johnny.

"Ben!" said Susan.

Reed stood up. Johnny waved.

"Guys," said Ben.

"How did it go in there?" asked Reed.

"Crummy doctors had to take a genetic sample, they says. Your skin is too tough for our instruments, they says. So what do they do? Stab my blasted tongue with a prong thingy made by a guy from the same gizmo-making factory that you musta gone to!"

"They just didn't want to scar your perfect skin, rockslide!" chided Johnny.

"Johnny!" scolded Susan, glaring.

"I did finally get a good look at a mirror though," said Ben.

Susan looked at Ben with sad eyes. Johnny frowned to himself while no one was looking at him.

"I couldn't believe it. Them cosmic rays muddled up my good looks and turned me into . . . . well, something that I wasn't. I, uh . . . ."

Reed frowned and looked down.

"I ain't staying around here," said Ben. "I think I better go."

Ben turned away from the group and began walking down the hallway. Susan took a couple of steps after him, but Reed stretched his arm and put it on her shoulder. She looked at him, and he shook his head.

"Let him go. I think . . . . I think he just needs time."

* * *

Sitting at her desk, Viola stroked her chin. After a few minutes, she began to reach for the telephone, when there was a knock at her door.

"Come in."

A nurse walked into the room, carrying a small test tube.

"Doctor Crausband?"

"Yes?"

"The final genetic sample, as requested."

The nurse handed the test tube to Viola. After examining it with her eyes for a moment, she looked back at the nurse.

"Thank you. You are dismissed."

The nurse nodded before leaving. After she was gone, Viola opened a small briefcase on her desk. Inside of it was a foam case filler, with four identical slots for test tubes. Three were already filled, with tubes that were marked with the names of the people they had been taken from.

Viola looked back at her newly acquired sample. The label read 'Benjamin Grimm'. Placing it in the fourth and final slot, she then closed the briefcase.

* * *

Ben groaned as he stepped into a puddle on the street. Shaking some of the water off his boot, he then stepped up to the sidewalk and continued onward. He was wearing a large trench coat and a brown hat, along with his bodysuit pants. His hands in his pockets, he kept walking along the night street until he bumped into a person stepping out of a shop.

"Whoa!"

"Oh my!"

Ben quickly reacted and grabbed the woman, who had nearly toppled over.

"Gee, sorry lady," said Ben. "Almost didn't see you there."

"Oh, that's quite alright," replied the woman. "I guarantee that I didn't see you."

"Huh?"

Ben let go of the woman as she regained her footing. She then turned around and faced him. She was a young, white woman with shoulder-length, strawberry blonde hair. She was wearing a turquoise blouse and a skirt adorned with a pattern of variously coloured flowers. However, Ben was fixated on her eyes. They were blank and grey, but they were the most vibrant grey that he had ever seen. They weren't chasms of mist; they were oceans of murky yet beautiful water.

"Oh jeez, I'm so sorry. I-I didn't realize . . . ."

"Don't worry about it," interrupted the woman, smiling. "There's no way you could have known. It's not like you're a mind reader."

Ben felt his mouth open slightly, but he quickly closed it. The woman held her hands together in front of her, pressed against her dress. For a few seconds, they were both silent.

"Well? Go on."

Ben raised an eyebrow.

"Go on what?"  
"I sense that you want to ask me something. If you didn't, you'd have left by now."

"I, er . . . ."

Ben held his hands together, fidgeting with them.

"What, uhm . . . . what's your name?"

The woman smiled.

"It's Alicia. Alicia Masters."

"Alicia, huh? So . . . . you're, you're not scared?"

"Of what?"

"Of me."

"Should I be?"

"Not necessarily."

"Well, if you're that worried about scaring me, then I doubt you're someone that I should be afraid of," responded Alicia. "To be fair, the I only thing I'm fearing right now is that you're not going to share your own name."

"Oh, yeah, sorry, heh, that was rude of me, wasn't it? Heh . . . . yeah. Er, I'm, uh, Ben. Ben Grimm."

"Ben."

"What were you doin', walking out here?"

"Oh, I was just closing the shop," replied Alicia. "I work for this art studio here. I'm a sculptor, you see."

Ben looked past her, at the shop's window. He saw two paintings and a bust sculpture of a well-formed, attractive male.

"That's yours?"

"Yes. Do you like it?"

"It's brilliant."

Alicia took a step forward. Ben shook in his place.

"It's alright," said Alicia. "I just want to see you . . . ."

Without hesitation, Alicia reached forward and gently placed her hands on Ben's face. While he initially put forward his arms to stop her, he let her continue once her palms began massaging his cheeks. Exhaling, he allowed her to rub her hands across his rock-like skin.

"Incredible," said Alicia. "So strong . . . . such grace . . . . but so much anger, rage, self-pity . . . . but it's all for show. Underneath, it's just a sort of, silent sadness . . . . a beautiful, gentle soul lies within you, Ben Grimm, longing for acceptance and peace."

Alicia let go. Ben sighed.

"I, erm . . . . I gotta go. I have to, uh . . . . t-talk to some people."

"It was nice to meet you. Do come visit me sometime. I'd love to show you some of my other pieces, and maybe . . . ."

"Yeah," replied Ben. "S-Sure."

Alicia smiled and nodded. Ben then turned away and began walking down the street, back the way he came.


	8. War and Peace

Earth-717: Fantastic Four Vol 1

Chapter 8: War and Peace

Watching the various delegates walk into the main conference hall, Gyrich stood with his hand behind his back. He was wearing a grey suit and slacks, and a large, silver watch on his left wrist. Watching the crowd of people rush in, he noticed a woman in a dull crimson business dress, with her red hair done in an updo, followed by a young-looking man with messy, black hair and spectacles.

"She was supposed to be here to plead her own case," said the man. "Does Tasha even qualify as a metahuman?"

"According to the UN, she does," replied the woman.

Gyrich watched the two of them walk past. Rubbing the back of his neck, he then looked up and exhaled upon seeing Ellis approaching him.

"Mr. President."

"Gyrich," responded Ellis. "How are you holding up?"

"As well as can be expected. The Cardinals lost last night."

Ellis gave a small laugh.

"I heard. Hell of a shame."

"Yes, sir."

Ellis gestured towards the main door to the conference hall. Gyrich nodded and the two men walked inside. The hall itself was a massive room, with hundreds of people from all over the world convening. Ellis nodded and waved at several of the delegates before arriving at his table and taking his seat. Gyrich sat in the seat next to him. He then turned his head, and felt a shiver go down his spine upon seeing a figure entering the room.

The figure he was looking at was a tall man, as far as could be seen. None of the man's skin was visible, for it was completely encased in a suit of metallic armour. Each piece of metal was pristine and polished, and the suit was adorned with a green cloak fastened to it with two, small, golden discs on each shoulder. The most striking feature was the face mask; it carried an aura of menace that was nearly implacable, complete with two eyes that seemed to be devoid of any kind of humanity.

After the man took his seat at the table labelled 'Latveria', Gyrich turned back to Ellis.

"Von Doom is here?" whispered Gyrich. "I thought he never left Latveria."

"Very rarely," responded Ellis. "Whenever he does show up, you know the matter is important. Most of the other delegates find him unnerving."

Gyrich stole another glance at Doom.

"I'll say."

After a few more minutes, an Asian man in a blue suit walked up to the centre stage. Standing at the podium, he then began speaking into the microphone.

"Greetings, honoured delegates. I am Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and I hereby open up the floor on this United Nations assembly."

Gyrich scratched his neck with his index finger as he listened to Ban.

"We are here today to speak on an extremely important matter," continued Ban. "Something that has been stretching its influence across the consciousness of our people. I am speaking of course of the coined term known as the 'Metahuman Phenomenon'. Over the past decade, we have seen the rise of these so-called metahumans, defined as humans with extraordinary powers, or the ability to simulate such powers, or both."

Ban cleared his throat before continuing to speak.

"Whether they are born with their powers, such as with the discovery of homo superior, also known as mutants, or obtain their abilities via scientific or other means, more and more of these metahumans have been confirmed to exist, with unconfirmed reports peppering the last quarter century. This is no longer something we can ignore, ladies and gentlemen. Metahumans are very real, and they are among us. While there are a handful whom are trusted by the general public, there are dozens more that are neither registered or even fully understood. We have seen multiple incidents within the past year, in this very country and others, proving the danger that these people can pose if they use their powers for destructive ends. Thus, this meeting has been called to discuss the matter of metahumans, and how we can make the world safer both from them and for them. Thank you."

The hall erupted into applause, with almost everyone in the room clapping. Everyone, except for Doom, who sat back in his chair, his eyes glaring at the podium.

* * *

Ben grumbled as he watched the crane lifting steel girders into the air. His arms folded, he began tapping his foot against the sidewalk. Reed was standing next to him, with blue, holographic goggles on, typing into a tablet. Ben stared up at the building in front of him which was being worked on. It was one of the tallest skyscrapers in Manhattan, standing three hundred and seventy metres tall.

"Agh, I should be the one buildin' this headquarters. At the very least I should be helping."

"While your new-found strength would be useful," started Reed, "your size would be very unwieldy, especially for using standard construction equipment."

"I just hate feeling useless."

"Don't start. You've never been useless."

Reed tapped a button on the tablet.

"Herbie, what's the status of the plasma jets on the new ship?"

Herbie's voice came through the tablet.

"My tests have all come back with outstanding results, Doctor Richards! Your marvellous designs do not disappoint!"

"Thanks, Herbie."

Ben scoffed.

"Marvellous designs, huh? Tell that to your shielding."

Reed looked at Ben and raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, Ben, I have done some investigating into that as well. I looked over the wreckage of our ship, and I found an unknown chemical compound in the remains of the plasma batteries."

Ben turned towards Reed and narrowed his eyes.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Tactical espionage!" exclaimed Herbie.

Both Ben and Reed looked at the tablet with wide eyes.

"Er, well, maybe, I mean. At least, that's the prevailing theory that Doctor Richards put forth."

"You sayin' that somebody sabotaged the shields?" asked Ben.

"I can't be certain," responded Reed, "but those plasma batteries were supposed to be completely clean. The only way that a chemical compound could have been introduced to them would have been through intentional means. I need to do some more investigating, so for now, I would prefer that this stays between us."

Ben nodded.

"That goes for you too, Herbie," scolded Reed.

"Have I mentioned how grateful I am that you promised to build me a new body, Doctor Richards?"

Ben looked up into the sky once he heard a loud shout. Putting his hand over his eyebrows to shield them from the sun, he squinted as he saw Johnny flying around a nearby building.

"Haha, you still can't keep up! Yeah!"

"Not for long, hothead!"

Johnny boosted forward, leaving a stream of fire behind him. After a second, Susan flew around the same building, crouching on a force field shaped like a circular disc. Holding one arm out in front of her and one behind her, she then pressed her feet against the front end of the disc, causing her to gain speed.

"How many laps around Manhattan are you two nut-jobs at?!" shouted Ben.

"Fifteen!" yelled Susan.

"Face it sis! You'll never be able to match this speed!"

"Let's go again!"

"You're on!"

Johnny and Susan blasted off again, flying past several buildings and out of sight. Reed continued to work on his tablet. Ben chuckled to himself, not noticing a sedan slowing down on the street behind him. A teenager with sunglasses and spiked hair put his head outside the passenger side window.

"Speaking of Suzie, I wanted to ask you . . . . did she happen to . . . ."

"Hey Grimm!" shouted the teen.

"Huh?"

Ben turned just in time for a beer bottle tossed by the teen to hit him right in the face. He shouted as it smashed on his forehead.

"Nice makeover, beauty queen!"

The car then started to drive away. Ben furrowed his brow and clenched his fists.

"You lily-livered Yancy Street cowards! Get back 'ere and get what's coming to ya!"

Ben started to run after the car before Reed stopped him by stretching out his arms and locking down Ben's shoulders.

"Dammit, Stretch!" shouted Ben. "Just let me at 'em! Five minutes! That's all I need! Five minutes and those two bit, no good, polly pocket punks will never mess with me again!"

"It's not worth it," responded Reed. "Besides, we have to act with discretion. What we do over the next few weeks will paint how society views us now that we have these powers. We can't do anything that will cause the general populace to view us as a threat."

Ben punched his fists together as Reed let Ben go.

"Trust me, I don't need to do anything for people to view me as a threat. They already know."

"That's not what I mean. We have to show people that we are trustworthy. That's why I'm working with City Hall to get our headquarters put in the Baxter Building. We'll be part of the city."

"Yeah yeah, I know."

Ben sighed.

"I've just been taking garbage from those damned kids for so long, and now that I'm . . . . me, well, they've taken it as a notice of open season on poor old Mama Grimm's blue eyed boy."

"We'll get through it, but for now, we can't have you levelling any . . . ."

Reed was interrupted by the sound of a large tremor. Reed and Ben both looked towards where it was coming from, but couldn't see anything due to all of the buildings.

"I swear," said Ben, "that one wasn't me."

* * *

Johnny's eyes widened as he saw the street tremble at the tremor. Hovering in the air, he looked out at the ocean off the east coast of Manhattan. As he stared at what looked like a large whirlpool forming, he didn't even notice Susan fly up next to him on her disc.

"What the hell is that?" asked Susan.

Johnny didn't respond, narrowing his eyes. After a few more seconds, he pointed his flaming hand at the whirlpool.

"Look!"

The whirlpool dissipated as a gargantuan form began to rise from the ocean's surface. Large waves expelled in every direction as a monster stood up on its four legs, splashing the docks attached to the city. It had leathery skin, was eighty metres tall, and had a V-shaped skull plate with six eyes. Johnny and Susan watched the creature in awe as it looked up into the sky.

The monster then held out its head and opened its mouth, emitting a roar that seemed to shatter the eardrums of anyone who heard it. Johnny and Susan cringed as the monster sustained is roar for ten seconds, allowing everyone to see the green-blue glow from the back of its throat. It then lifted its front left paw into the air, taking a step towards the shoreline.

Susan gasped as she looked down at the people on the edge of the city, fleeing in terror. Johnny furrowed his brow.

"Those people!" shouted Susan. "We have to help them!"

"Way ahead of you, sis!"

Johnny boosted forward and began flying towards the monster.

"Johnny!"

"Get the people away from the shore! I'll distract it!"

Susan nodded and flew downwards, soaring a few metres above the cars on the street. Turning around and facing away from the monster once she reached the edge of the crowd, she threw her arms up in the air.

"Everyone! Head inland! Congregate in Central Park if you can!"

The hundreds of people turned away from her and ran down the street, away from the shoreline. She then heard someone calling out.

"Help! I'm stuck!"

Susan turned and saw a woman in her car, struggling with the car door. A screaming baby was in a car-seat behind her. The woman bashed her palm repeatedly against the car door window. Susan flew over to her and made a small, vertically aligned force field disc, which she sliced through the crevice of the car door.

The door busted open, and the woman burst out of it. She then opened the back door and pulled her baby out of the car-seat. Turning, she looked at Susan with a frown.

"Thank you so much."

Susan nodded, and the woman began running down the street, following the crowd.

Johnny flew up right in front of the monster's face, twenty metres away from it. The monster's six eyes convened on him.

"Ooooo, ahhh, you like the light, don't chya?"

The monster tilted its head slightly to the side. Johnny then flew side to side in front of it, and the monster moved its head to follow his movement.

"Yeah, you big, dumb sea turtle! Keep yo eyes on yo prize!"

Johnny formed a fireball in his right hand. Smirking, he then tossed it directly towards one of the monster's eyes. The monster shrieked in pain.

"Hah! Didn't see that one coming, did ya?"

Johnny clutched his own stomach, laughing to himself.

"Get it? Didn't see it coming?"

Shaking its head, the monster then lunged forward and wrapped its mouth around Johnny, consuming him. Susan, who had turned around to look, gasped.

"JOHNNY!"

The monster was motionless for a moment, before widening its eyes. Its mouth then glowed orange before it spit Johnny out.

"Egh!"

Johnny was ejected from the monster's mouth at high speed. Susan quickly flew upwards, and caught him with a concave force field, before depositing him on her disc. He was covered in a cyan coloured slime.

"Johnny? Johnny!"

"Blegh!"

Johnny looked at his hands, frowning.

"I got . . . . mucased!"

"Be grateful you weren't digested," chided Susan.

The monster roared again before charging forward. Susan quickly dodged to the left, and watched as the beast stepped into the city. Susan gulped.

"We're . . . . going to need backup."

* * *

Gyrich groaned under his breath when he heard a small buzzing from his earpiece. He placed his finger on it before he began whispering.

"What is it?"

"Security notice," said a gruff, manly voice on the other end. "We need you to check a potential breach on the third floor, behind the main aisles."

"Got it."

Gyrich let go of his earpiece and leaned in towards Ellis.

"Excuse me."

Ellis nodded in response. Gyrich quietly stood up and began walking out of the main hall. As he did, he heard Ellis speak in response to the delegate at the podium.

"While we certainly have to be wary of the potential dangers of enforcing registration upon such individuals, we cannot forget that the amount of metahumans, while growing, is nowhere near the same as that of the general population, and their safety is my paramount concern."

Gyrich walked into the lobby, nodding at two of the security guards at the front entrance. Walking up the stairs to the third floor, he then moved past a handful of columns. The balcony he was on overlooked the assembly hall. He then noticed that a room at the end of the balcony had a door that was slightly ajar.

Raising an eyebrow, he grabbed his pistol from its holster and held it in front of him. Opening the door completely, he checked the room and found Viola standing in front of him, her arms at her sides. He aimed his pistol at her.

"Hello, Mr. Gyrich," said Viola, in a gruff, manly voice.

Gyrich's eyes widened.

"Who are you?"

Viola's voice changed to a feminine one.

"My name . . . . is Lucia von Bardas."

Lucia's left arm then made a mechanical whirring noise, and unfolded to reveal that it was a metallic appendage. Stunned, Gyrich watched as the arm transformed into a cannon and fired a blue laser blast directly at his chest. He crumpled onto the floor.

Viola sneered before tapping her ear with her right hand.

"Lord Doom, I have him."

Doom's voice came through the speaker in her ear.

"Excellent. Signal the takeover and extract."

"Understood, my lord."

In the main conference hall, Doom placed his hands together, with each of his fingers pressed against its counterpart on the opposite hand. Sneering, he then turned his head to see woman in a security outfit bursting into the hall.

"There's an immediate emergency situation!" shouted the woman. "Outside, you're not going to believe this, but there's a giant . . . ."

The woman's speech was cut short by a blue laser beam striking her in the back. Many of the delegates gasped as multiple green-grey robots breached the room from many directions. They were humanoid, with laser cannons for arms, and had small heads with a single, glowing green orb on each one. The various security guards attempted to fight back, but they were all quickly cut down by the robots. As people screamed and ran around the room, Doom stood up and calmly walked towards the stage.

Putting up his hand, Doom fired a green energy blast from his palm, which incinerated the podium. He then stepped onto the stage and turned to face the hall, standing where the podium had once been.

One of the delegates was pushed away from an exit by one of the robots.

"What is the meaning of this?!" he shouted.

"We are Latveria's finest," stated the robot.

Slowly, the people in the room turned towards Doom and stood in a crowd in front of him.

"Von Doom!" exclaimed Ellis. "What is this?"

Doom sneered before looking down at Ellis.

"This building is now under the command of the absolute monarch of Latveria . . . . Doctor Doom."

"You're a murderer!" shouted one of the delegates.

"Please," started Doom. "Do not be so brazen as to launch baseless accusations. I have murdered no one. The members of your incompetent security force are all quite safe. The weapons utilized by my mechanical soldiers were mere stun lasers."

"You really think you can just waltz up there with your robots and take charge?!" asked Ban. "You've just made enemies of everyone in this room!"

"Is that so?"

After Doom spoke, four people stepped out of the crowd and walked up to the stage. They then filed and stood next to Doom as the people in the crowd felt their jaws drop. Vladimir Putin and Natalia Poklonskaya were on Doom's left, while Xi Jinping and Stephen Harper were on his right.

Doom waited a few seconds to allow the gravity of the situation sink in before speaking again.

"Well then . . . . it appears that I have the floor."


	9. Giganto

Earth-717: Fantastic Four Vol 1

Chapter 9: Giganto

Reed turned the control column hard to the right as the new ship soared through the air over Manhattan. It was a smaller design than the previous one, with a long, sleek central section, four separated domed seats, and two extension jets on both sides of the rear end. Both jets were rectangular, with rotating plasma emitters to allow for banking and maneuvering. The ship had fine, chrome plating, with a blue and silver colour scheme. A logo, a blue, encircled '4', was emblazoned on the main section.

Reed felt his mouth start to hang open upon seeing the monster come into view.

"Hey, Reed?" asked Ben.

Reed didn't respond.

"Why is there a giant monster waltzing down fifty seventh street?"

"I . . . ."

"Hi guys!" shouted Herbie.

Reed gasped.

"Look! I'm a flying ship! Well, not exactly, since I still technically only exist in corporeal form in Doctor Richards' mainframe, but still, my programming can interface with this vehicle. Have you thought of giving it a name yet? I was thinking . . . . the Fantasti-Car! Get it? Because you're the . . . ."

"Herbie!" interrupted Reed.

"Yes?"

"This is no time for your endless rambling. Get communications up with . . . ."

"Done."

Susan's voice came in over the speaker.

"Reed?"

"Susan! A-Are you alright?"

"Yeah, we are . . . ."

"Is there time now?" asked Herbie.

"Herbie!" shouted Susan and Reed simultaneously.

"Sorry. Please don't yell at me."

"Susan . . . . what is going on down there?"

"This giant . . . ."

"This freaking turtle gooed me!" shouted Johnny.

Ben started laughing.

"Hah hah! What a wimp."

"Can it, rockpile!"

"Ooooh, them's fightin' words, matchstick."

"Johnny! Shut up! You too, Ben!"

"Susan, have you tried diverting the creature?"

"Yes. Both of us have. We're not having much of . . . ."

Susan was interrupted by a roar from the monster.

". . . . an effect."

"Jeez louise, one giant monster shows up and the lot of you's act like it's the end of the world or something. I'll take care of Giganto 'ere for you chumps."

Reed turned his head back.

"Ben!"

Ben pulled the switch on his left, opened the dome over his seat. Looking over the edge, he saw Giganto under him, smashing into buildings.

"Ben, don't!"

"Don't try to stop me, Stretch . . . ."

He then jumped off of the ship, holding his fists above his head.

". . . . BECAUSE IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!"

Giganto looked up at Ben and moaned before he slammed his two hammerfists down on its skull plate. The impact fractured the bones in Giganto's skull, and it shrieked in response. It then fell backwards and collapsed onto its side as Ben landed on the street, cracking and rupturing the tar for several metres in every direction around him.

Ben stood up and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, that wasn't so hard."

Susan flew down next to Ben. Johnny was lying at her feet on the disc, wiping the last bit of slime off of himself.

"Awh, Torch. Did the big scary monster ruin your pretty, boy band hair?"

"Yeah! I can't have this! I have a date tonight with Beverly Switzler!"

"Who'zat? A farmer, or something?"

"The supermodel."

Ben shrugged. Susan pulled Johnny to his feet.

"Can you two focus for a minute, please?"

"Why?" asked Johnny. "Jolly orange knocked him out."

"No he didn't," said Reed, his voice going into their earpieces. "Fascinating. The fact that this creature is so enormous and yet has managed to remain an unknown species all this time . . . . it must be either from the deepest depths of the ocean or subterranean in nature . . . ."

"Reed!" exclaimed Susan. "This thing is starting to get back up again. Can you focus and tell us how we're going to beat it?"

"We'll never be able to defeat Giganto traditionally; it's far too large and powerful. Perhaps we can divert it in some way, force it back to its own habitat. This creature has never been seen before, and thus it must be an anomaly for it to arrive on land."

Johnny threw up his arms.

"Wait a minute . . . . are we actually calling it Giganto?"

Giganto stood back up on its four feet and stared forward at the team. It then reared its head as an explosion blew open a section of the street under it. A short, stocky man in a thick, green suit walked out of the hole under Giganto's feet. He was holding a staff with green, glowing discs on the end of it. The man placed his hand on Giganto's leg, and rubbed the skin.

"You've done well," said Harvey.

Giganto purred in response.

"Dude, a garbage man just petted it," said Johnny.

Harvey stood on top of a wrecked car in the middle of the road, at Giganto's feet.

"That is a sentiment that you will not share for long, Jonathan Storm," said Harvey.

"Hey, he knows me! See? I'm more famous than you guys!"

"Johnny, half the people in the country have known about us since the accident," said Susan.

"Oh. Right."

Harvey threw up his arms.

"People of the world!" bellowed Harvey. "I am the Mole Man! I have long since left your world for a better one, in deep, underground chasms beneath New York! However, my benefactor has promised me a part of his new world order. Tremble at the sound of my name, for I am your conqueror!"

Ben snickered for a moment, before breaking out into a loud belly laugh for several seconds, clutching his stomach. Harvey became flustered.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Mole Man? Mole Man? Really? What is this, the sixties?"

Harvey grumbled. Reed sighed.

"Ben, taunting him won't . . . ."

"I mean, oooh, I'm shakin' in my orange booties here. You're some chump in a dirty coat who found a glowing stick."

"Is that what you think, Benjamin Grimm? I should have known; my benefactor told me about your intrepid personality!"

Reed raised an eyebrow.

"Benefactor?"

"And now, I know exactly how to convince the world to fear me! I shall destroy you . . . . the self-proclaimed Fantastic Four! My pet . . . ."

Harvey looked up at Giganto and aimed his staff towards the team.

"Kill them."

* * *

With his hands behind his back, Doom addressed the crowd before him.

"Previously honoured delegates," started Doom, "I come before you now with a message and a warning. The message is that I do share your concerns over the rise of metahumans on this Earth. They are a threat, to your peoples and to mine. However, your insipid and endless debates have not solved your dilemmas in the past, and they won't solve them now."

As Doom continued to speak, much of the crowd felt their breathing slow down.

"Thus I have elected to dissolve this useless organization and replace it with a new one: my Cabal. As you have observed, several of your members have already shown their support for my vision of a new and better future, under a new world order. Mine."

Ellis furrowed his brow.

"The warning, is that opposition will not be tolerated. I shall not allow the minds of worthless simpletons to jeopardize the progress of our species. The chaos of this world must be curtailed, and I shall mold our global society into one of order and contentment. If you inhibit this goal in any way, you will pay the price."

"And what price would that be?" asked Ban.

Doom sneered. Snapping his fingers, he watched as two of the Doombots flew down to the stage and stood parallel to each other. A holographic video screen then formed between them, showing an aerial view of a large stretch of forest.

"This is Prescott National Forest in Arizona," stated Doom. "This feed is live. I have under my control a device which is capable of manipulating geothermal energy. However, I have modified the device so that it can channel that energy through the tectonic plates making up Earth's crust. I will not waste the details of the science on such primitive minds, but I am sure that you will find the effects quite . . . . alarming."

Doom pulled a small remote out of his cloak.

"Are the co-ordinates set?"

"Affirmative, Lord Doom," replied the Doombot.

Doom pressed the button on the remote. Everyone was still. Then, a loud cracking noise was heard, as the ground underneath the forest ruptured and collapsed. Many of the people screamed and gasped as they watched the entire area shown fell apart within a few seconds.

"Earthquakes," said Ellis. "You . . . . you can cause, earthquakes?"

"Catastrophic earthquakes, Mr. President," replied Doom. "At any target on Earth."

Ellis turned towards Putin.

"You're going along with this?"

Putin folded his arms. Ellis turned to look at all of Doom's allies, who all offered no response.

"I give you one hour," started Doom. "Surrender complete command of your countries to the rule of Doom . . . . or watch in terror as I unleash my power upon your citizens. I trust that you will find submission more . . . . agreeable, than annihilation."

"You sick son of a bitch," chided Ellis.

Doom roared and stepped forward, grabbing Ellis by his neck. Clutching his throat, Doom lifted Ellis into the air with one hand.

"You dare insult . . . ."

Natalia looked at Doom.

"Von Doom!"

Doom inhaled. Natalia spoke with a soft yet commanding tone.

"This is supposed to be a . . . . relatively . . . . peaceful takeover."

Doom looked at her and then back at Ellis before dropping him on the floor. Ellis landed on his rear, quickly standing back up to his feet.

"You're right, of course," said Doom.

Doom looked down and exhaled before looking back up at the crowd.

"One hour."

* * *

Reed fired another set of rockets from the ship, which collided with and exploded on Giganto's side. It roared again before shifting its footing, knocking down an office building.

"Agh!" exclaimed Reed. "No rockets left. I couldn't divert its path."

Susan flew past the ship on her disc.

"Don't worry. I know how to shut this thing up."

Susan opened her palm, and a force field bubble formed around Giganto's head. It then began to roar and shake its head back and forth, unable to intake air. Susan held her outstretched hand firm, gritting her teeth as she strained herself to maintain the large force field.

"You got him, Suzie!"

Giganto started panting before lifting its arms in the air. Holding them up, it then slammed them down with heavy force. The shockwave from the impact caused Susan to scream as the feedback sent a pulse of pain throughout her entire body. She flew backwards from the shock as the force field around Giganto's head dissipated.

Johnny quickly reacted and boosted behind her, grabbing her by her shoulders.

"Sue? Sue!"

Susan woke up and shook her head into alertness.

"That . . . . ow."

As Giganto tried to manoeuvre its feet to step on Ben, he quickly moved towards its back left leg.

"Alright, gumbo, let's mess up your pedicure!"

Ben punched at the ankle bone on the leg, and Giganto howled in response. It then began to push itself against a nearby building, busting right through it. Harvey, who was standing off to the side, shook his staff and aimed it back towards the team.

"Take them down!" shouted Harvey, whose words coincided with the discs on his staff glowing vibrantly.

Giganto shook its head and looked back towards the team. Reed, who was still sitting in the ship, looked at Harvey and then back at Giganto.

"Of course!"

Reed tapped his earpiece.

"Everyone! Stop fighting Giganto! It's no use! The staff . . . . Mole Man's staff is what's controlling it!"

Ben, Susan and Johnny all looked at Harvey. Ben began rushing towards him, and Harvey gasped before aiming the staff at him.

"Alright, you mangy little . . . ."

Ben's words were cut short by Harvey firing an energy blast at his chest, sending him flying backwards and into the wall of a building. Johnny tried to toss a fireball at Harvey, but it was intercepted by Giganto, who swiped at him.

"Hey! I'm trying to roast your boss!"

Giganto swiped at Johnny again, knocking him away. Susan flew past Giganto and headed straight for Harvey.

"Stay back!"

Harvey fired another energy blast, but Susan absorbed it with a force shield. She then threw the shield forward, smashing it into Harvey and knocking him on his back. Picking up the staff with a force field bubble, she threw her arm towards the shore, and the staff soared through the air, flying hundreds of metres until it landed in the ocean.

Giganto turned away from Johnny and looked at where the staff went. It then let out a soft call before walking down the street towards the water. Harvey stood up and started to shout, but Susan made a small force field over his mouth, silencing him. Everyone watched as Giganto calmly walked into the ocean and disappeared beneath the waves.

Susan let go of the force field around Harvey's mouth before trapping him in a bubble. He desperately pounded his fists against the bubble in vain.

"So ends the reign of terror of the dreaded Mole Man," said Susan, laughing. "I have to say, I'm not impressed."

"You cursed imbeciles! I will not stand for this indignity!"

Johnny punched his fists into the air.

"Wooooo yeah! Did you see that? We totally saved the day! Kicked that monster's tail like it was nothing!"

"Can it, firefly," said Ben. "You barely did anything."

"I did to!"

"Did not."

"Did to."

"Did not!"

"Good work Susan," said Reed over the speaker. "You were wonderful."

Susan blushed before responding.

"Thanks."

Reed sat back in his chair and sighed.

"Doctor Richards?"

"Yes, Herbie?"

"I don't know if this is related, but I'm detecting massive amounts of seismic activity under the city."

"Is Giganto coming back?"

"No, but these readings would not appear to be . . . . natural. There seems to be a massive flux of geothermal energy, but it is almost being directed, like a signal, to a different location."

Reed looked at the chart showing Herbie's data.

"Where is the source?"

"In a cavern, underneath Manhattan. The tunnel created by the Mole Man seems to lead towards it."

After staring at the data for a few more seconds, Reed pressed his earpiece.

"Team . . . . we're not done yet."

"What now?" asked Johnny.

"We're going spelunking."


	10. Latveria

Earth-717: Fantastic Four Vol 1

Chapter 10: Latveria

With his hands held behind his back, Doom paced back and forth across the stage, perpendicular to the crowd. He tuned out the conversations that were being had in front of him, turning the gears in his own mind. He then stopped as he heard Xi speak to him.

"Von Doom. Time's up."

"Thank you," replied Doom, nodding.

Doom faced the crowd.

"Your time has ceased. What are your decisions?"

Several of the delegates began walking towards the stage. Ellis then put up his hand and waved down.

"I can't speak for all of us . . . . but I can speak for many of us. We will never submit to your rule, Doom. Someone will stop you. It might not be us, but someone will. You can't enslave an entire planet and expect to come out on top."

"Under normal circumstances, you would be correct. The difference . . . . is that I am Doom."

The Doombots on the stage activated their holographic video screen, showing an aerial view of a large city.

"Your words are courageous, Mr. President, but courage will not save the millions of people living in Chicago. Perhaps after you watch them die, your courage will be dissuaded."

Doom pulled the remote from his cloak again.

"Set co-ordinates."

"Co-ordinates locked in," said the Doombot.

Ellis looked down. Some of the people started to hold their breath and cry. Doom sneered before pressing the button.

Nothing happened.

Doom furrowed his brow and waited for ten seconds before speaking out.

"Confirm the co-ordinates."

"Co-ordinates confirmed, Lord Doom," said the Doombot. "No signal detected from the geothermal extractor."

"What? How?"

A loud crashing noise was heard from the front of the hall. Everyone turned to look as Ben broke through the wall, scattering chunks of concrete and debris around him. As the grey dust settled, he rushed into the room and put his fist through the nearest Doombot.

"Anyone else?!"

Disabled, the Doombot fell onto the floor as Ben receded his fist. Johnny flew through the hole in the wall and hovered next to Ben. Reed stretched into the room, and Susan materialized in front of him, her arms crossed.

"It's the Fantastic Four!" shouted someone from the crowd.

"Having trouble with your device, Victor?" asked Reed, grinning.

"Richards," grumbled Doom. "What have you done?"

"We had a little chat with your good friend, the Mole Man," explained Susan. "After getting his pet monster out of the city, which we suppose you unleashed so that attention was away from the United Nations building, he surrendered and told us everything. How you contacted him and commissioned him to steal the extractor from Project Pegasus. How you met with him and modified the device to create earthquakes. How you promised him a kingdom in your new world order in exchange for his assistance. He spilled it all, and now he's on his way to Ryker's, and your device is a piece of scrap metal."

Johnny pointed his finger at Doom.

"Yeah! So take that!"

Ben punched his fists together.

"Felt good to put my skills to productive use."

"Face it Victor," said Reed. "You failed."

"Failed?"

Doom's eyes widened as he glared at Reed.

"Doctor Doom . . . . does not fail!"

Doom stretched out his arm to his side and fired a purple beam from his hand, which created a small portal on the stage.

"Cabal, get to safety! Doom shall deal with these insolent worms."

Putin, Natalia, Xi and Harper all ran into the portal, which closed after they were gone. All of the Doombots then turned and looked at the team.

"That's . . . . a lot of robots," said Ben.

"All Doombots! Lethal force authorized! Destroy the Fantastic Four!"

The Doombots activated their green laser cannons and began firing. Susan quickly tossed up a force field around the entire team. The delegate crowd screamed and began ducking for cover, or lying on the ground. Reed stretched upwards.

"Now!"

Susan let go of the force field and created a shield in front of her. She then blitzed it forward, crashing into a Doombot, which exploded on contact. Johnny boosted into the air and speedily rotated, shooting multiple streams of fire which melted three of the Doombots. Ben grabbed two of the Doombots and smashed their heads together. Another tried to strike him from behind, but he dodged and landed a haymaker on its face.

"Doom shall avenge me!" shouted the Doombot, as its head was knocked off.

Reed stretched over the battle, and confronted Doom.

"Stop this Victor! Before you end up regretting it."

"Doom regrets nothing, Richards."

"We'll see."

Reed leaped forward. Doom braced himself, but then gasped as Reed stretched his body in a circular fashion, wrapping himself around Doom. For a moment, Doom struggled, before an electrical current lashed out of his armour, shocking Reed, who screamed in agony. Reed's elastic form collapsed on the stage at Doom's feet. Doom reached down, grabbing Reed's neck and pulling it up to his eye level.

"By the end of this day, it is you who shall be doing the regretting."

Reed coughed out a word as he choked.

"Victor . . . ."

Doom tapped a button on his belt, which glowed blue in response.

"Bodyslider. Activate."

Susan's eyes widened as she saw a blue energy field envelop Doom and Reed. She jumped at them, but they immediately disappeared, and she landed on an empty stage.

"Reed?!"

Ben smashed the last Doombot against the ground before turning to look at Susan.

"REED!"

Trembling, Susan fell to her knees on the stage. Johnny landed next to her and reverted to human form. Ben sighed and looked down. Susan closed her eyes.

"Sis?"

"He's gone . . . ."

"Who's gone?"

Ben perked up his head upon hearing the voice in his earpiece.

"Herbie?"

"Hi guys! How is your epic showdown going?"

"Egh, Herbie, now might not be the best time . . . ."

"Reed's gone!" shouted Susan. "Can't you see that?"

"Doctor Richards? He's not gone . . . . although, I suppose that depends on your definition of the word . . . ."

Susan raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Doctor Richards is gone from your location, yes, but he's merely been transported somewhere else."

"Where?!"

"Locational tracking data from his earpiece suggests that he's . . . . wow, halfway around the world. In a small country called Latveria. Huh. Why would he go there?"

Susan stood up.

"Herbie, prep the ship. We're leaving!"

* * *

Clutching his stomach, Reed groaned as he felt his eyes slowly open. Coughing, he then looked at his surroundings. The containment cube that he was in was completely transparent, and two metres in width, length, and height. It was on the floor in the middle of a large, stone chamber. The adornings and decorations suggested a medieval theme, but a set of hyper-advanced computer consoles were off to one side. At the end of the chamber was a long, crimson carpet, which lead to a metallic throne.

Reed furrowed his brow upon seeing who was sitting on it.

"Doom."

Doom softly laughed as his grip on the armrests of his throne tightened. Reed tried to stretch out and exert pressure on the containment cube, but the walls let out an electrical shock when he touched it. Receding, he breathed heavily as Doom continued to laugh. He then stood up from his throne.

"I must say, I find your pathetic struggling quite amusing, Richards. To think, that you were referred to as the greatest mind of our time by the corn-fed commoners that make up your idiotic media outlets. Yet here you are, by way of a simple box, utterly defeated."

"If you're so smart, Victor, then why couldn't you have devised a way to defeat my team without resorting to cowardice?"

Doom began walking towards Reed as he spoke.

"Your appeal to honour holds no bearing on me. Strategy determines my actions. You would be wise to follow my example."

"Your example? You were willing to kill millions so that you could, what? Conquer the world? Why?"

Doom glared at Reed as he stopped a metre away from the containment cube.

"Our species is at a critical crossroads in our evolution. You should know this. I merely wish to ensure that we move along the right path."

"No. Not the right path. Your path."

"And you would have us do what? Follow you? You who stole everything from me? Who ruined my life?"

Reed's eyes widened. Doom pressed his finger against a button on his wrist gauntlet, electrifying Reed. Holding it for several seconds, he listened as Reed screamed. Doom then released the button as Reed panted.

"Victor . . . . please . . . . y-you can't . . . . I didn't mean . . . ."

"Didn't mean to what? Steal my face? Kill the woman I loved?!"

Doom pressed the button again, and Reed writhed around in the box as the electricity rippled across his body. After a few more seconds, Doom released it again.

"I'm sorry . . . . I k-know, that I . . . . told you . . . . that there . . . . w-was, a . . . . m-mistake . . . ."

Doom sneered.

"But, the mistake . . . . was mine."

Reed looked up at Victor. For a minute, they just stared at each other.

"I know that my error caused your accident," said Reed. "I know that you lost everything, and Victor, with all of my being, I am truly sorry. I know what she meant to you. We were all friends once, or do you not remember that?"

Victor inhaled and held his head up high.

"Whether you hate me or not, that doesn't give you the right to do the things you're doing. Victor, you once wanted to help people. To use science for progress, not tyranny. You don't have to do this."

"That is where you are wrong."

Reed sighed. His eyes then widened as he saw Lucia walk into the room, with her metallic plates showing.

"Viola?"

"Lucia," said Doom.

"Lord Doom, we have an approaching aircraft. Small, and with greater speed than usual for a ship its size. It is alone."

"No doubt the rest of Richards' foolish team are coming to rescue him. I'll make sure that they fail. Return to your duties, Ms. Von Bardas."

"As you command, your Excellency."

Lucia bowed, and then turned away. She smirked at Reed for a second before leaving the room. Doom then walked towards the computer consoles.

"It was her," said Reed. "She sabotaged the plasma batteries."

"How perceptive of you, Richards," replied Doom, without turning to look at him. "I sought to end your miserable existence because I knew that you were one of the only people who could have stood in the way of my plans."

"So . . . . I created you . . . . and you created us."

"The poetic irony is not lost on me, I assure you."

Doom pulled open a metal closet to the side of the computer consoles. Reaching inside, he pulled out a sleek, futuristic rocket launcher.

"However, I'm afraid that this is where our game ends."

Doom then calmly walked towards the large glass window at the other end of the chamber. Reed felt his breathing quicken as he looked out the window, seeing a small speck coming into view over the forested mountains.

"Just as you destroyed any chance of me having a family with the love of my life, so shall I destroy the family that you have adopted as your own."

"Victor, don't do this."

Doom aimed the rocket launcher at the window. Reed gritted his teeth.

"Stop it, you evil bastard!"

"In the words of the immortal Bard: 'There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.'"

Doom fired the rocket, which broke through the window. Reed felt his jaw drop as the rocket soared towards the speck. For five seconds, there was no sound. Then, the speck was struck, and an explosion cleared the skies.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"


	11. Fifty Move Rule

Earth-717: Fantastic Four Vol 1

Chapter 11: Fifty Move Rule

Lucia walked into a room with several computers and a containment unit. The unit was a large mechanical device with multiple arms spread out in a circular fashion, simulating the tentacles of an octopus. Each arm had a glass, spherical orb on the end of it, roughly two meters in diameter. Most of the orbs were empty, except for one, which held Gyrich in it.

He pounded against the walls of the orb as Lucia walked past, ignoring him. The orb was sound-resistant, and all she could hear was a soft thud whenever he hit the glass. Reaching a computer console, she began typing into it. After a few minutes, she took her fingers off the keyboard and began to walk out of the room. Once she had taken a few steps into the hall, she heard a crashing noise.

Lucia gasped and turned around. She ran down the hall and back into the room to see that Gyrich's containment orb had been broken. She then turned her head to see Gyrich running down the opposite hall, away from her.

"Meddlesome pest," said Lucia, activating her left arm cannon.

She fired a blue laser blast at him, but he turned around a corner, narrowly escaping it. Gyrich regulated his breathing as he ran, with a small, green pistol in his right hand. Entering another room, he saw what appeared to be laboratory equipment. His eyes wide, he looked to the right to see a computer screen, displaying genetic data from four vials. He took off his sunglasses as he looked at it.

A minute later, Lucia barged into the room. Gyrich looked up from his watch and gasped as she fired a blue laser blast at him, stunning him again. Walking forward, she reached down and grabbed the green pistol out of his hand. She looked at it with a raised eyebrow.

* * *

Reed slammed his fist against the ground as his eyes closed. Shaking his head, he then slowly looked up as the last remaining pieces of the ship fell out of the sky. The sinking of his heart filled his entire body with excruciating pain, but he made no more sounds. Tears welled up in his eyes as he sat back against the wall of the containment cube.

Laughing to himself, Doom placed the rocket launcher against the stone wall and turned to face Reed.

"So ends the tragically short career of the formerly Fantastic Four."

Doom walked up to the containment cube. Reed kept his face down. For a minute, nothing was said between the two. Then, Reed looked up at Doom with a scowl on his face.

"So you got your revenge," said Reed. "Are you happy now?"

"Revenge? My revenge on you is nowhere near complete."

Tears fell out of Reed's eyes as he glared at Doom.

"Then kill me."

"Kill you? Who said anything about killing you? Do you truly believe that I would allow you the pleasure of such an easy way out? I think not."

Reed raised an eyebrow.

"No. You shall suffer much more than you already have, Mr. Fantastic. You will be my witness; a powerless, insignificant whelp who will watch as I bend this world to my will. I shall be victorious in my campaign of conquest, and then, once I have crushed all of my opponents beneath my iron boots, I will cast you out . . . . a fallen icon, the one who could not stop this future from coming to pass, and I will revel as the disenfranchised people who called you 'hero' . . . . tear you apart, piece by piece."

Reed's mouth fell slightly open.

"Then, and only then . . . . will my revenge be complete."

Reed shook his head and looked away from Doom.

"You are a psychopath."

"Once again, you are mistaken. A psychopath would seek to destroy the world. I wish to save it. From itself."

Doom threw up his cloak as he turned around and walked back up to his throne. Reed watched him sit back down, and then laid his head down against the floor. Breathing slowly, he stayed still for a few minutes.

"Ben. Johnny."

Reed closed his eyes.

"Susan."

Reed's body shook as he inhaled, reopening his eyes.

"You have no idea how sorry I am . . . . I failed you . . . . all of you . . . . and there's so much I wish I could have said said, before . . . . before . . . ."

Reed closed his eyes again.

"Before what?" whispered a female voice, with a hint of playfulness in her tone.

Reed's eyes widened. Doom turned around and narrowed his eyes. After watching Reed for a second, he fired a green energy blast from his hand, which was aimed to the right of the containment cube. It struck an invisible Susan, who screamed as she became visible and landed on the floor.

"Ooof!"

"Susan!"

The broken window lit up with orange light as Johnny soared into the room.

"I hope you broke out your asbestos armour, Doomsy, because now it's time to flame on!"

Ben clambered into the window, panting.

"Next time you want to let go of your levitating disc, Suzie, make sure it's after I'm already in the room!"

Reed looked around at his team as a smile appeared on his face. Susan recovered and pulled herself up. Johnny flew up to Doom, blasting him with two massive streams of fire. A green energy shield formed around Doom's body, deflecting the flame as he stood still. Ben ran over to the containment cube.

"Get back, Reed! I reckon that it's time for a breakout!"

Ben smashed the top of the containment cube with both of his fists, and the cube shattered. Reed grinned as Ben pulled him to his feet.

"It's good to see ya, Stretch."

"How did you . . . .?"

"Survive? Heh. Suzie-Q's force field, of course. Kept us safe and invisible. Those things got a lot of uses."

"Ben, I . . . ."

"Egh, keep your mush locked tight until we recycle this tin tyrant, alright?"

"What?"

Raising an arm, Doom fired another energy blast at Johnny, who broke off his attack and dodged to the right. Doom then fired another from his other hand, hitting Johnny in the chest and knocking him away. Ben shoulder charged towards Doom as Susan flew over him, casting a force shield in front of Ben's movement. Doom tried to fire an electricity blast, but it was absorbed by the shield. Ben charged right into Doom, knocking him backwards.

Doom crashed into the stairs in front of his throne.

"None lay hands on Doom!"

Doom blasted into the air on his rocket boots. He fired an array of yellow photon shots down on Ben before forming his legs together and boosting forward. His foot dive collided with Susan's chest, knocking her off her levitating disc and back onto the floor. Recovering from the photon shots, Ben watched as Doom absorbed two fireballs from Johnny before activating a wrist rocket. Eyes widening, he lunged at Johnny and pushed him out of the way of the rocket as it collided with the floor.

Reed stood still and watched as his teammates recovered and braced themselves for another round. Doom opened his palms and charged them with green electricity as he glared at the team.

"Come, Fantastic Four . . . . and meet your doom."

"Enough!"

Everyone turned to look at Reed.

"Everyone, just, just stand down."

"You're joking, right?" asked Johnny, reverting out of flame form.

Susan looked at Reed with a confused face.

"Reed . . . . he kidnapped you . . . . he tried to kill all of us."

"Tried, yes," replied Reed. "But he didn't succeed."

Reed looked up at Doom, who stopped charging his energy. He slowly descended from the air and landed in front of his throne.

"We stopped his plan. He can't threaten anyone with the geothermal extractor, and we're all okay. As far as I'm concerned . . . . it's over."

"You didn't blow a fuse in that big brain of yours, did you?" asked Ben. "He's Doctor Doom! Threatened to take over the whole world, sent a giant monster to eat us?"

"And his name has Doom in it!" yelled Johnny.

"He's also the monarch of Latveria, which means that he has diplomatic immunity. We're assaulting him on his territory."

Doom sat down on his throne, narrowing his eyes.

"Look, I'm not condoning what he did, or saying that he shouldn't have to answer for his crimes . . . . but we have nothing to gain by fighting him here. To be honest . . . . I'm just thankful that you three are alive."

Reed walked past his teammates and looked at Victor. Johnny leaned to Susan's ear.

"Is he serious?"

"I think so."

Reed and Doom stared at each other for several seconds.

"Victor, we're not going to attack you anymore. Your plans have been foiled. There's no point in continuing this fight . . . . at least right now."

"I agree. I have underestimated the tenacity of your team, Richards. That is a vulnerability that you will not be able to exploit again."

"We're going to leave your country. We're going back home. But if you ever attack us or anyone else again, we will be back for you."

"Keep your empty threats to yourself Richards, and leave my domain while I still allow it."

Reed nodded before turning around.

"It's over."

Susan created a force field disc large enough to hold herself, Reed and Ben. She then flew them out of the broken window, followed by Johnny. As the team flew out of sight, Doom clutched the armrests of his throne, gripping them so tightly that they began to buckle under the pressure.


	12. First Family

Earth-717: Fantastic Four Vol 1

Chapter 12: First Family

Sitting on his throne, Doom watched as the metallic plate on the floor of the throne room opened. A mechanical arm came through it, and on the end of the arm was a glass, spherical orb. Gyrich, with his sunglasses back on, was inside, and he stood up once the orb stopped moving. Lucia walked into the room and stood at Doom's left hand side with her hands behind her back.

Gyrich folded his arms.

"You have some serious nerve to kidnap a Presidential aide, Doom. This might be the sort of thing that could get your diplomatic immunity revoked, if that doesn't already happen because of your fiasco at the UN."

"I might have something to consider in that regard if I did indeed kidnap a Presidential aide, but both you and I know that I have not."

Gyrich raised an eyebrow but remained silent. Doom shifted his eyes to the left.

"Ms. Von Bardas?"

Lucia held out her hand with which she was holding the green pistol.

"He used this to temporarily escape confinement."

Lucia handed the pistol to Doom, who took a few seconds to look it over, analyzing it from all angles. He then placed it on the armrest of his throne and stood up.

"Mr. Gyrich, I know that there is something different about you. I knew since the last time I was in the United States, and my internal scanning device picked up a genetic anomaly that I traced to you. I also know that this pistol was not manufactured on Earth. So let us abstain from the pleasantries where you deny the truth about your identity and tell me . . . . who are you?"

Gyrich inhaled but did not respond for several seconds. He then took off his sunglasses and tossed them before stepping on them. Staring directly at Doom, his face then started to take on a deep green hue, similar to Doom's cloak. After several seconds, Gyrich's transformation was complete. All of his skin was leathery and green, and his ears were pointed. He had shiny, yellow eyes, and lines on his chin. Doom raised an eyebrow, but otherwise didn't move.

"I am Jaketch, soldier of the Skrull Empire."

"An alien shapeshifter. I thought so. How long have you been impersonating Henry Gyrich?"

Jaketch growled.

"Ten months."

"What is your purpose here?"

"To infiltrate. To observe. To record. All for the glory of the Queen."

"Queen?"

"Our great leader, Queen Veranke, the one whose indomitable will shattered the tyranny of the old monarchy, and shall lead to the fulfilling of the ancient Skrull prophecies! She was the one who sent scout agents to infiltrate your planet's governments and assess their conditions."

"There are more of you?"

"Yes."

Doom narrowed his eyes.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Jaketch spit on the ground.

"It will not matter anyway, for regardless of what you know, the Skrull Empire will soon arrive and crush your meagre species. I am but one. The Empire is infinite. I will tell you no more."

Doom sat back in his chair.

"Very well. You may now pass on to the undiscovered country."

Doom pressed a button on his wrist, and a small electrical noise was heard. Jaketch looked up with fear, and then screamed. A second later, his entire body exploded, leaving nothing but blue blood and several chunks of roasting flesh. The mechanical arm then retracted back into the hole, and the metallic plate closed.

Doom tapped his fingertips against the armrest for a few seconds. Lucia stood at her post, watching him. He then spoke without moving.

"Call a meeting with the Cabal," ordered Doom. "I'm sure that we have much to discuss."

* * *

Harvey kept his head facing down as he walked forward. Two police officers walked behind him as they moved down the hallway. Harvey looked down at his handcuffs, sighing as he did so. He then looked up at the white, circular doors.

"What is this place?" asked Harvey. "I've never seen a jail like this."

"We're in a speciality prison called the Vault, on Ryker's Island," answered the female officer. "Maximum security prison, with a custom-made, dedicated section just for metahumans."

The male officer poked Harvey in the chest with his club.

"Meaning, freaks like you!"

Harvey looked up at the first circular door. A label at the side of it read 'Magneto'. The door next to it had a label which read 'Mole Man'. The male officer pressed a command code into the panel, and the circular door opened.

"Get in."

The female officer turned Harvey around and removed his handcuffs. She then pushed him into the cell and locked him inside.

* * *

"Give me the remote!"

"Not a chance, kid."

"Gimme!"

"No!"

"The rally's on! You can't deny me my monster truck fix!"

Reed sighed.

"Would you two be quiet for a second? This is important!"

Ben and Johnny stopped struggling over the remote and looked at the television. Reed and Susan were sitting on the couch, watching.

The television showed Ban Ki-moon at a press conference.

"And so, after consulting with numerous other world leaders, we realized that this is a situation that will forever change the face of global politics. The revelation of the conspiracy known as the Cabal has led us to an uncomfortable truth: that these nations are no longer united."

Reed narrowed his eyes as he watched. Susan looked at him for a moment before returning her gaze to the screen.

"Several other nations have since been discovered as allies of the Cabal, and the possibility of even more has forced our hand. We know not how far this corruption spreads, but we do know this: that there are still billions of people around the globe who believe in freedom. However, we cannot continue to protect that freedom in the same way that we used to. Thus, effective immediately, I have elected to dissolve the United Nations."

The journalists erupted into chatter and questions. After calming them down, Ban spoke again.

"At a time like this, our resolve will be tested. Despite what has happened, we cannot hold citizens accountable for the actions of their leaders. Embassies around the globe will continue to operate as they have, and all governments will keep their current power. Now that the Cabal has been outed, their operations will be crippled. But most of all, I want everyone to remember, that during this time of crisis, we have to rely on each other. Family is the important unit that cannot be broken. I wish again to thank the heroes of New York, who helped stop the Cabal's attack, the Fantastic Four. Thank you."

"That's us!" shouted Susan.

Ban stepped down from the podium as the journalists got rowdy again. Johnny then swiped the remote out of Ben's hand.

"Hey!"

"Alright, now that the boring press thingy is over, it's time for monster trucks!"

Johnny changed the channel. The screen showed monster trucks crashing into each other. Ben roared and picked him up.

"No way, junior! We're watching the game!"

Reed and Susan looked at each other and broke out into laughter. Susan grabbed his arm and pulled herself in close to him. As they stared at each other for several seconds, Ben and Johnny continued to fight in the background.

"That's it, Grimm! FLAME ON!"

Johnny erupted into his flame form, and Ben pulled away his hand.

"Yowch! Watch it, matchstick! That's my haymaker hand!"

Susan smiled at Reed.

"So, when you were in Doom's castle, and you thought we were dead, you were saying some very important things. Go ahead."

Reed's eyes widened.

"Go ahead, what?"

"Say what you were going to say."

Reed rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm not exactly sure what you mean."

Susan raised an eyebrow, with an unimpressed face.

"Because I think, that you were the one who was supposed to tell me something."

Susan's eyes widened.

"What?"

"Contrary to what Ben might have told you, it is possible for me to wise up to some things."

"It only took you ten years," said Susan, with a sarcastic tone.

Reed smiled.  
"Better now than never."

Reed and Susan both closed their eyes and placed their foreheads against each other while holding hands. After listening to each other breathe for a minute, Ben picked up a table.

"Get down here and fight like a man, you incandescent twerp!"

"Incanwhatsit? Stop using big words; that's Reed's shtick!"

Reed and Susan pulled their heads away from each other. Susan rolled her eyes.

"Can you two not destroy our headquarters on the first day?!"

Herbie's voice suddenly came in over the speakers.

"I concur with Susan, gentlemen," said Herbie. "Since the Fantasti-Car has been destroyed, and Doctor Richards has not yet built me a new body, my existence in the computer systems of the Baxter Building makes this headquarters my primary physical form. I would appreciate it if you did not level it day one."

"Are we really calling it the Fantasti-Car?" asked Johnny.

"I picked the name," said Herbie. "Don't you like it?"

"Great. Now the entire room is made of egghead," moaned Ben.

"Oh, Doctor Richards, I made that alteration you asked for. It's ready."

"Alteration?" asked Susan.

"Light it up, Herbie," said Reed.

The top of the Baxter Building emitted a large, holographic light construct from the top of it. It was a blue, encircled '4', and it rotated in place; a beacon shining light across the heart of New York.

THE END

The Fantastic Four Will Return

Epilogue

In another galaxy, a large, purple and red warship floated in orbit around a small moon. Inside of the command centre of the ship, several Skrulls were at their stations. One of them raised an eyebrow upon seeing a notification appear on his screen. Opening the window, he read the data contained and stood up.

"Commander!" called the Skrull. "Come, quickly!"

The Skrull sitting on the command chair stood up and walked over to the station.

"What is it, Drexxon?"

"Commander Kl'rt," started Drexxon, "we've received a data transmission from Jaketch!"

"Show me."

Drexxon pointed to the data. Kl'rt narrowed his eyes upon seeing that it was a genetic sample from each member of the Fantastic Four.

"What is Jaketch's status?" asked Kl'rt.

"We're not receiving his vitals anymore," said Drexxon. "He's gone, sir."

Kl'rt sneered.

"Should we alert the Queen, sir?"

"No. Let's keep this a secret for now. In fact, I know exactly who to speak to about this."


End file.
